Human DevOps - Friday 22nd March - Talking Without Fear


Last Thursday night we hosted the third Fast Flow NL meetup in Amsterdam. A small but vibrant group of practitioners shared their ideas and passions about how teams get better together and how architecture finds a way.

More than that, we had a lot of fun and laughter and we shared a lot of war stories.

Afterwards during mingling this quote for me stood out:

"I love being in a room where you can say 'mob programming' and everyone is nodding their head"

One important revelation of my evening was that people say more interesting stuff if you don't record it. Sometimes, we think it's important to project a professional image into the world and share the experience with those who couldn't be there. But being in the moment and being able to talk without fearing who is watching or judging is very powerful. By sharing these stories in person, we also build strong connections.

This translates directly to work, too. We should be able to say what we think, but we sometimes don't want to overshare or step outside of the boundaries of what is considered acceptable. And 'acceptable' is different for a lot of people. Cultural cues are different for us all, so being mindful of what we're saying and to whom is something we can do to make our workplace conversations honest and yet comfortable.

What tips do you have for keeping an open conversation at work without it feeling like work and personal life aren't overlapping too much? Or is this fine for you?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. How much do you let work and your true feelings overlap? Just reply (in complete confidence) to this email if you feel like sharing. And yes I do realise the irony of asking this question in writing!

Have a great weekend

-- Richard


Being Nice Asynchronously: The Discipline of Remote Working

Published on March 19, 2024

Most tech workers work remotely these days, if not very regularly then at least once in a while. But how do we work with others when we work remotely? Do we even think about it? How can we make our communications more effective? I find it slightly incredible that four years since the start of… Read More »Being Nice Asynchronously: The Discipline of Remote Working

Read more...

The Human Software

Software systems rule our world. My regular newsletter explores the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming.

Read more from The Human Software
The Human Software 268 - Collective Sigh

We can all finally breathe a sigh of relief that January is behind us and February moves on apace. Our northern hemisphere days get longer, and before you know it, let's hope we'll be stretching out in the sunshine and enjoying the fruits of our winter's work. I'm making the most of the dark months by keeping my head down and writing. Amsterdam with Moon and Venus, January 2025 Human Software is now in development edit. What does that mean? As a self-published author, I'm working with an...

The Human Software 267 - Ringing in The New Ears

The third working week of the year starts tomorrow, and, as Danny the Drug Dealer says in "Withnail and I", there are going to be a lot of refugees. The years take on familiar shapes when it comes to corporate whim. We have our budget-setting periods, our summer holidays, and perhaps even our closed or quiet periods around Christmas. Predictability, as comforting as it is, can be equally disquieting. Are we here again? As marketing guru Seth Godin says, your comfort zone is not the place to...

The Human DevOps -  Sunday 22nd December - The Kick Inside

Did you know that Kate Bush was only 19 when she embarked on her first solo tour of the UK? Not only had she been writing music from a very young age but at that point she had been working on some of the songs on her first album "The Kick Inside" for more than four years. Clearly even at 19 she is a driven person and has been from a while - creating and forming the world around her as she goes - a force of nature. How do we choose to impose ourselves on the world? As we head to the end of...