The Mob Mentality Show

Managing Mob Teams with Vitaly Sharovatov

Do you have any experience managing individuals on a team? How did it go? Alternatively, have you ever resisted the urge to manage and incentive individuals and instead focused on the system, mob/ensemble, or team? What would that be like? What are the pros and cons of either approach? 
Join us as we have a fantastic time discussing with Vitaly Sharovatov where he passionately shares about managing mob teams. First, we dive into The Candle Problem. Second, that leads us into conversationally exploring individual incentives, motivation, systems thinking, and managing mobs. Third, after connecting that to solo vs. ensemble hiring, we jump to mob onboarding, knowledge management, and knowledge systems. Lastly, Vitaly enthusiastically shares about the importance of ethics to everyday tasks in development, engineering, and management. 
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/fVfx2_yfzxQ 

The 1st Habit of a Highly Effective Mobber

Ever heard someone say "there's nothing we can do" in a team or mob? Or, how about "that's just the way it is"? What effect did it have on the team? What was your response? 
Join Chris and Austin as they discuss The 1st Habit of a Highly Effective Mobber: "Response-ability." They start with setting the stage regarding this topic's inspiration from the books Turn The Ship Around and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Then they talk about what "response-ability" means and its significance especially in an ensemble programming context. After they clarify the distinction between proactive vs. reactive, they dive into the impact of focusing on your circle of concern vs. focusing on your circle of influence. Lastly, they connect this habit to coaching, retrospectives, learning time, kaizen, and systems thinking. 
Video and show notes: https://youtu.be/IFvjTQTLPak  

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

What is the relation between confidence vs. competence?What does that relation have to do with mob programming?
Join Chris and Austin as they discuss The Dunning-Kruger Effect. They talk about what they have discovered about The Dunning-Kruger Effect and the many different versions of the phases in the model (e.g., "Child's Hill" => "Insecure Canyon" => "Grown-Up Mountain" vs. "Ignorant" => "Cultured" => "Expert"). Then they discuss the relationship between the Dunning-Kruger Effect and mob programming, learning, experimentation, humility, and refactoring.
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/kqHgUKMdms8 

Why Are Things Not Getting Done? with Andy Kwong, Rei Pamintuan, and Aaron Griffith

Why do things not get done in tech? What gets in the way? What causes waiting? What causes re-work?
Join Andy Kwong, Rei Pamintuan, Aaron Griffith, and Austin Chadwick as they not only share horror stories of things not getting done, but they also share joyous stories of things actually getting done. They discuss the wastes that cause all the madness with flow. Lastly, they explain and demonstrate how mob programming has eliminated these wastes in their context.
FYI: The advertised lean coffee portion of this tech talk is not in this episode since there is a pending approval to share it publicly on The Mob Mentality Show.
Video and show notes: https://youtu.be/mLHf9XcuCwU  

Agile Satori, Meatloaf Industrialism, and Ensemble Training with Jon Fazzaro

Ever witnessed someone experience sudden agile enlightenment? What was it like? Is there a method to the magic that can be replicated? Ever seen a new idea face resistance against "the way we have always done it"? How did you handle it?
Join Chris and Austin as they discuss "Agile Satori, Meatloaf Industrialism, and Ensemble Training" with Jon Fazzaro. First, they discuss flipping the classroom, "Nerd Lunch," and ensemble training in light of "the speed of work as the speed of idea sharing." Second, they dive into Meatloaf Industrialism and our unquestioned cultural habits. Lastly, Jon shares about agile satori vs. slow gradual transformation and they discuss the relation between immersion and the paradox of paradigm shifts.
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/_MDgfsWZjOU  

Adapting the Mob RPG for the Classroom with Paul Gestwicki

Imagine you get to design a college class that teaches mob programming, craftsmanship, and agility. What would it look like? How would you do it?
Imagine no more and join Chris and Austin as they discuss with professor Paul Gestwicki his agility focused college courses and how he adapted the Mob RPG for the classroom. Paul talks about how he heard about Mob Programming via a Joe Justice video and shares about his first experiments with using Willem Larsen's Mob RPG Game in the college classroom. Come hear what Paul learned from those experiments and what changes he made to the game to tailor it for his students' levels and context. They all discuss scaffolding for learning navigation skills and Paul tells a TDD and clean code game design success story. Come celebrate awesome educators like Paul Gestwicki in this episode of the Mob Mentality Show!
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/nqVUe7ezHhQ  

What’s a Second Brain and Why You Should Have One with Vince Carpino and Jason Storey

How do you compile knowledge? How do you capture ideas, inspirations, insights, and connections? How do you keep it all organized? What would it look like to do this for a team or mob? 
Join Chris as he explores with Vince Carpino and Jason Storey the intriguing world of second brains. First, Vince defines a second brain and shares about his productivity journey with second brains. Second, they dive into the many different implementations of a second brain ranging from Zettelkasten to Bullet Journaling to Commonplace Books. Throughout they not only talk about benefits of having a second brain but they also share their own personal experiences with them. Lastly, they give some tips for a team or mob who may want to experiment with implementing a collective second brain. 
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/oN8TXOR8sMk  

Onboarding Graduates via Ensemble Bootcamps with Sean Cowan and Andy Graham

After graduating, what was your onboarding experience like for your first job? What was lacking? What was good? What would it look like to turn up the good all the way for onboarding? 
Join Chris and Austin as they discuss with Sean Cowan and Andy Graham their exciting ensemble bootcamp for onboarding new graduates. First, they discuss the origin story for this internal bootcamp. Second, they not only share what it is like to be a new grad in this program but they also share what it is like to be a mentor to these new grads. Lastly, Sean and Andy talk about many of the goals and principles behind the bootcamp. Come join us to find out how many new grads discover XP and craftsmanship in this onboarding process to later become positive disrupters in their first production team.
Video and show notes: https://youtu.be/WU360h8MnJo  

Software Teaming Book with Woody Zuill and Kevin Meadows

Ever been in a software group that was so effective that it truly lived up to the word "team"? If so, what was it like? What was the differentiator that took it beyond the infamous office posters of so-called "teams" into the realm of actual teaming?
Join Chris and Austin as they celebrate and discuss with Woody Zuill and Kevin Meadows the second edition of the Software Teaming Book that Woody and Kevin just published. Woody and Kevin not only explore the inspiring software teaming concept from Amy Edmondson's Teaming book but also they dive into the genesis of the first and second editions of their Software Teaming book. Woody and Kevin talk about what changes were made in the second edition and why. They share about how they collaborated to write the book and why Kent Beck was asked to write the foreword. Lastly, they riff on different analogies for teaming (e.g., Orchestra, Jazz Band, Improv Comedy Group) and on the unity and diversity they have experienced in mob/ensemble programming. 
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/ri-35oHWIU8  

Mob Station Hardware

While the lean wastes of task switching, defects, handoffs, and relearning are certainty inhibitors of flow for a team, ever seen the waste of waiting on slow hardware muck up the works? What hardware setups for teams, ensembles, and mobs have you seen help keep things flowing? 
Join Chris and Austin as they share experiences with Mob Station Hardware. Chris kicks it off with the end of Moore's Law and the implications for processor architecture. Then they both share on the impact of hardware on test speed (e.g., approval tests) and mob lean flow. After talking about pet vs. cattle hardware, they touch on hardware resilience to failure and mob resiliency to hardware failure.
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/rbrKWObgEbM