tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12948038.post3179401814372487667..comments2023-07-29T09:15:17.416+01:00Comments on allan's blog - Agile & Digital Business: Unspoken Cultural differences in Agile & Scrumallan kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06262139490250478379noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12948038.post-72618572186782189462012-11-07T18:10:48.777+00:002012-11-07T18:10:48.777+00:00Afterthought: When people share their experiences ...Afterthought: When people share their experiences with outsourcing to India, they often remark, that Indian engineers tend to deliver to spec and don't ask if they are confused, whereas German (and also US engineers) will point out, if something doesn't make sense to them and ask. <br />So when I said that I don't see a great software engineering tradition I meant practices such as unit tests, pairing, frequent refactoring, etc.Corinnahttp://finding-marbles.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12948038.post-54408177213322352862012-11-05T12:36:48.561+00:002012-11-05T12:36:48.561+00:00It was nice reading this blog. Thanks for sharingIt was nice reading this blog. Thanks for sharingScrum coachhttp://www.braintrustgroup.com/contact/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12948038.post-80003363682366607922012-11-01T23:49:00.479+00:002012-11-01T23:49:00.479+00:00Germany may have a strong engineering culture, but...Germany may have a strong engineering culture, but software engineering? Not from what I have seen. But there's hope: Software Craftsmanship is slowly gaining traction (softwerkskammer.de).Corinnahttp://www.finding-marbles.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12948038.post-82133715804980105222012-11-01T14:09:25.648+00:002012-11-01T14:09:25.648+00:00Dan Mezick left a bunch of comments on Twitter abo...Dan Mezick left a bunch of comments on Twitter about this blog entry which I'd like to record. <br />(His Twitter ID is @DanMezick)<br /><br />@allankellynet Yes, Scrum may be more appropriate for USA-based teams. It originated in #Boston USA, a fact the tends to support your post<br /><br />@allankellynet I like your post. In general, I think European civilization is far more predisposed to good #Agile than the USA<br /><br />@allankellynet In #Boston, we literally, annually "Give Thanks for Scrum", honoring the Tribal Elders, Jeff & Ken: http://newtechusa.net/agile-boston/boston-meetings/november-20-2012-the-4th-annual-give-thanks-for-scrum-event/ …<br /><br />@allankellynet Your post is thought provoking. The #Agile world has become a diluted, polluted place. Give Thanks For Scrum !<br /><br />@allankellynet #Agile culture & Scrum (if it is in fact Agile) are both subject to the same limits, namely: the Manifesto 12 principles.<br /><br />@allankellynet Your post is good. People get bent out of shape about Scrum, while Scrum itself continues to hold its shape.<br /><br />@allankellynet Nice post! It is OK to ditch Scrum when you get competence sticking with the Manifesto 12. Most teams never get <br /><br />@allankellynet Scrum is simply a set of agreed-upon behaviors that conform to the Manifesto 12. Any practice-set that does this well is OK<br /><br />@allankellynet Yes: In other words: stand-up meetings have greater benefit in US offices than they do in European offices.<br />allan kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06262139490250478379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12948038.post-10471236678199103552012-11-01T14:05:53.052+00:002012-11-01T14:05:53.052+00:00Certainly the stereotype of Germans in the UK is t...Certainly the stereotype of Germans in the UK is that they are more hierarchical. I'm not sure this is completely true. One German company I did a little work with was very keen to plan out the whole Agile adoption up front, which is kind of hard to do.<br /><br />I also think its true to say that German's have a very strong engineering culture so it could be that its the respect for good engineering that is at work rather than hierarchy.<br /><br />Overall, I would expect the arguments about better engineering from Agile to work better in Germany and the arguments about more competitive products be more persuasive in the USA.<br /><br />While the UK has a strong engineering history (Brunel, Stephenson etc.) we don't have a strong engineering culture currently - or at least not in my opinion.<br /><br />My gut feel is that a lot of UK companies just want "better IT". They lack the ambition to be more competitive and don't pay a lot of attention to the engineering discussion.<br />allan kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06262139490250478379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12948038.post-17456044671834923182012-11-01T13:10:11.187+00:002012-11-01T13:10:11.187+00:00Are we Germans more hierarchical? Hm, in general w...Are we Germans more hierarchical? Hm, in general we are more obedient to "authority" and more rule-abiding than other peoples. Does that translate into more hierarchies?<br /><br />In my experience it depends very much on the industry you're in and the company's age. In traditional industries such as manifacturing, banking or insurance you have strong hierarchies. In startups there's hardly any. Not even in Germany ;) <br /><br />What I definitely witness is a "My job - your job"-mentality. Everybody has their own area and tasks. <br />Before going agile "teams" are just groups of people that do similar things. They help each other out, but don't really work on the same tasks. <br />And cross-functional teams? Only ever in companies touched by agile thinking. <br /><br />Before I read your post I'd have thought this to be universal (people working alone, in pseudo-non-cross-functional "teams"). Now I'm wondering if there are cultures that already had cross-functional teams before Agile showed up...Corinnahttp://www.finding-marbles.com/noreply@blogger.com