The Mob Mentality Show

Optimizing for Personal Fulfillment in Mob Programming with Kelly Rankin

What are things conducive to personal fulfillment at work?Specifically with mob programming, what would it look like to optimize for personal fulfillment?For example, how do you find joy even in the midst of disagreement?
Join Chris and Austin as they discuss with Kelly Rankin "Optimizing for Personal Fulfillment in Mob Programming." Starting with autonomy and fulfillment, they share what that looks like in an ensemble including things that make it harder and things that make it easier. Then they jump into kick starting and maintaining continuous learning. Lastly, they focus on keeping a holistic perspective in the work and the impact of full-stack development, which ultimately goes full circle and ties back into continuous learning and personal fulfillment.
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/cLY6mCjz1UM 

Joining a Mob Not Doing XP

Extreme Programming and Mob Programming go together like peanut butter and jelly. However, have you ever joined an ensemble that was not doing extreme programming?How did you handle it?What reactions were helpful? What reactions were not so helpful?
Join Chris and Austin as they discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly for tactics in regards to joining a mob not doing XP. They share experiences on transparency with non-utopia ensembles including emotional shock and recovery in the midst of the coaching chaos. Then with a "center, enter, turn" mindset, they talk about specific things that have been helpful such as "getting therapy," limiting coaching WIP, "long game" mindset, encouragement, and emphasizing without patronizing.  
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/gDdxTl1KFlQ  

Demo of the Mob Programming RPG (Part 2) with Lisa Crispin, Joe Justice, and Willem Larsen

After having a good time mob programming with introductory roles like driver/navigator, what are some examples of "turning up the good" even more? What are unique ways to help people in the ensemble grow?What mobbing tactics can you employ to improve the product in very particular ways?
Picking up from where they left off last time, come join Chris and Austin having another fantastic time playing the Mob Programming Role Playing Game with Lisa Crispin, Joe Justice, and Willem Larsen. This time, they focus on embodying level 2+ roles like Sponsor, Archivist, Rear Admiral, Nose, Traffic Cop, Automationist, Anthropologist, and Dr. Feel Good. Not only do you get to see how things like "graphic kanban" can be used along side ensemble programming but you also get the feel of some of the many unique ways to contribute in a mob. 
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/V1ZgaX99UJ4 

Demo of the Mob Programming RPG (Part 1) with Lisa Crispin, Joe Justice, and Willem Larsen

Is mob programming a group of people watching one person type? Just a driver and a bunch of watchers?If not, what are some examples of things to do in the ensemble? What roles amplify learning, contribution, continuous improvement, and flow efficiency for all?How can people learn in a safe environment how to take on these mob roles?
Come see the Mob Programming Role Playing Game in action with Chris, Austin, Lisa Crispin, Joe Justice, and Willem Larsen as they focus on role levels 1 and 2. After Willem, creator of the RPG game, introduces the game, they have a fantastic time embodying several roles including Driver, Navigator, Mobber, Researcher, and Sponsor. Not only do they seek to help each other take on the different mob roles, but they also seek to do it with kindness, consideration, and respect. We hope this episode inspires you to play the game with some colleagues and friends and "join the annals of the great mobs of history."
P.S. Stay tuned next week for round 2 of the RPG in action for role levels 3+
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/ixV8YG5vwyM 

Taking Risks... Safely

Ever been on a team that pulled off a big jump in innovation?What things made the quantum leap possible?What helped the team overcome any perceived risk in going for it?
Join Chris and Austin as they share stories and thoughts on "Taking Risks... Safely." First, they talk about following the Scout Rule for 1% gains vs. large improvement leaps. Second, they explore mob psychology in regards to risk and safety nets. Then they discuss making learning and experimentation easy with a limited blast radius including "Yes, and..." techniques vs. a flat "no." Lastly, they cover the impact of leadership, chaos, and "extreme" suggestions. 
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/gf56ES2ZTUE 

The Coaching Paradox

When coaching, when to make it easy? When to let it be hard?How can these two seemingly diametrically opposed objectives work together?
Come join the conversation with Chris and Austin as they brainstorm to try to figure out the "The Coaching Paradox." First, they share about the benefits of making a great environment where it is easy to do good things (e.g., systems thinking, classical culture shaping, etc.). Second, they talk about the pros of developing the ability to do good things even if they are hard (e.g., grit, classical courage and diligence). Then, they hypothesize on how to solve the paradox and bring the two good goals together as a coach.
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/GexsVYQ4tYo 

Influencing Organizational Change

Imagine you are put in a leadership position at a new organization. You immediately see many problems and areas for improvement in the system.What are some of the first things that you do?What are some things that you resist doing?
Join Chris and Austin as they discuss influencing organizational change from the top/middle vs. the bottom. After Chris talks about avoiding the corporate antibody response, he shares his experiences on applying the "Center, Enter, Turn" principles. Next they discuss "unhelpful forgetting" and finish with how habits apply at the org and system level.
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/gKBOxwhj2iM 

Q & A on High Quality, High Release Frequency, and High Psychological Safety

For software, what things lead to excellence and continuous delivery?For teams, what is conducive to innovation? To people speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, mistakes, and taking interpersonal risk?
Come join Chris Lucian and Austin Chadwick at this Q&A session on "High Quality, High Release Frequency, High Psychological Safety" as they share from a #MobProgramming perspective. Stemming from that foundation, then Chris and Austin pivot to these specific questions from the audience at the Talabat event:- How to keep mob programming effective remotely?- How can a manager know who to promote in a mob programming environment?- How to ensemble when there are schedule conflicts?- Can you hire for mob/ensemble programmers?- How to mob with people who do not want to mob all the time?- How can mobbing be efficient? Don't I have better things to do with my time?- How can a group of Android, iOS, and back-end developers cross-train? Is it worth the time investment?- How to prioritize what to work on next when ensembling?- How to handle complex dependencies between teams? Skill dependencies? Tech dependencies?
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/gNA7cd1LQHU 

Dojos and Coaching for Learning Beyond Facilitation with Joel Tosi and Dion Stewart

What would happen if your team kept working on its current production tasks, but switched the top priority to learning while doing so?What if this flip would not only include learning facilitation excellence but also would include coaching, technical, and product excellence as well?What would the short term impact be? What effects would be seen in the mid to long term?
Join Chris and Austin as they have a fantastic discussion with Joel Tosi and Dion Stewart on "Dojos and Coaching for Learning Beyond Facilitation." After Joel and Doin describe these immersive learning environments in production, they dive into how remote dojos have led to more ensemble programming. Then, for both sports and tech, they cover the many facets of coaching side-by-side and in-context. Lastly, they explore what a post-"Agile" world looks like for them.  
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/BCg-_7axWVU 

Overcoming the Groan Zone, Bad Habits, and Entropy with Mark Pearl

Ever been in an org or team where it feels like entropy reigns supreme?After some improvements, have you seen things gradually decline back into disorder and old habits?
Join Chris and Austin as they discuss "Overcoming the Groan Zone, Bad Habits, and Entropy" with Mark Pearl. First, we hear Mark's ensemble journey with tech tourism, and then we talk about tools for getting past the groan zone in a new mob. Next, we brainstorm on how to handle reverting to old habits and entropy. This leads into a conversation on tactics for leadership and facilitation tools for collective decision making.
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/-Jl4iq30uFk