Keith Braithwaite, Agile Skeptic

Keith Braithwaite is a Principle Consultant with Zuhlke Engineering, and leads their Center for Agile Practice in London. He provides Agile training, consultancy and mentoring to development teams in the wholesale finance and mobile telecoms industries.

Previously he was Head of Technology Solutions for the ASIA-PAC region of WDS Global, and co-authored the first published descriptions of successful distributed Agile based on his experience there. He is a frequent speaker at Agile conferences around the world.

Presentation: "Techniques That Still Work no Matter How Hard We Try to Forget Them"

Track: Essential Development Skills

Time: Monday 13:30 - 14:30

Location: Store Sal

Abstract:

As an industry we have a short memory, shorter attention span and an obsession with the new. Or at least, the new-looking. As a result we sometimes fail to "hold the gains" as the state of the art advances.

This session reviews some old fashioned development techniques that still have value, and demonstrate their place in the contemporary development world. Things forgotten, things mis-remembered, things we're going through the pain of re-discovery. Things that every working programmer should know.

Presentation: "Real Decisions, Real Responsibility, Real Management"

Track: Business Drivers and Challenges in Software Development

Time: Tuesday 11:30 - 12:30

Location: Rytmisk Sal

Abstract: Your developers are claiming to be a "self-organizing team." They won't tell you a %-complete for any of the tasks they wouldn't let you assign to them from the detailed work breakdown they wouldn't provide. They give estimates as Small, Medium and Large. They're running around all over the business talking to people. Even customers. What are you supposed to do now? The new challenge for managers of software development is to make best use of team behaviours that are effective but startling, efficient but a challenge to the organisation, risk-reducing but outlandish-sounding. This newly rediscovered style of development needs management to rediscover a style, too - one that involves making real decisions and taking real responsibility. Using real cases this session will explore the exiting new world of real management in IT.