Company news

Only the paranoid survive

13.9.2016

Translation: machine translated

Self-confidence and arrogance feel good. But the sluggard quickly misses the last train. And step by step, they approach their last breath. So the rule for us, and for you too, is that you get better through reflection and feedback: Part 2 of our engineering manifesto: Embrace uncertainty!

Maybe some of you are familiar with the fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes. The emperor loves clothes. In the story, the crooks sell the emperor a special dress that is tailored exactly to him. It was said that the dress had the property of becoming invisible to those who did not fit into their office or were simply too stupid. Nobody wanted to tell the emperor that he was walking around naked. Even the emperor himself didn't want to admit it. Because that would mean that he had allowed himself to be taken for a fool by the crooks. One day, a child from the crowd shouted, "But he's not wearing anything! And when the word was spoken, suddenly everyone dared to tell the uncomfortable truth. Let us therefore have the courage to ask questions, even if we might attract negative attention in front of the crowd.

Good preparation is half the battle (proverb)

User stories are carefully prepared in advance by the person responsible for the component.
It can happen that a team has to make changes to an old logic that is not easy to understand. In this case, it is ideal to plan a research story in advance. If necessary, process visualisations can also be created to promote a shared understanding of the logic. The knowledge development forms a good basis for discussions within the team. And it helps to recognise problems at an early stage and make better estimates.

Whole things are always as simple as the truth itself. Only half things are complicated. (Heimito von Doderer)
Divide et impera (idiom)

There really is nothing in the world that is complicated. Because all complicated things are made up of simple things. If we start communicating the information in a way that is easy to understand, with UML diagrams, NDepend graphs, analyses, design patterns, tables, etc., then we can all see the big picture. Then we all see the big picture and suddenly things are easy to understand and implement.

When we develop solutions, it is essential that they are as simple as possible. The clearer and simpler a solution is, the better. This reduces the effort involved in communication, operation and maintenance.

Everyone has a plank in front of their head - it just depends on how far away it is (Marie Freifrau von Ebner-Eschenbach)

Teamswitch stories and bugs from other components are a great way to learn something new. There's no harm in getting to grips with another component. You understand the big picture better and the distance to the board becomes a little greater again ;)

Iron sharpens iron; likewise one man sharpens another (Bible, Proverbs 27:17)

No one is perfect. Together we can help each other to become better. Someone else sees the error that is invisible to our eyes. That's why code reviews and feedback are valuable, because we can develop and improve together. Errors can be solved before they occur in the production environment.

Following are some suggestions on the topic "Embrace uncertainty"

Have the courage to address uncertainties, even if this could result in an embarrassing situation .- I plan research stories for uncertainties in components .- I divide complex problems into several, simpler subtasks. To do this, I use methodological and technical tools such as story mapping, BPMN diagrams, NDepend, SonarQube etc.
I see Teamswitch stories as broadening my horizons and gaining knowledge of other components
I minimise uncertainty through peer reviews and feedback from all stakeholders
I make critical decisions as late as possible so that I can use as many details as possible for the decision, which are worked out during implementation

Further illustrative examples of how the second motto of the manifesto can be put into practice are also welcome. We look forward to any feedback.

Our manifesto

Company news
Why the force should not always be with you
by Tim Csitkovics

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Or it doesn't convince you, but you still want to develop with us? We have the following vacancies in software development:

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Robert Rajakone

Software Engineer

robert.rajakone@digitecgalaxus.ch

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Only the paranoid survive

Following are some suggestions on the topic "Embrace uncertainty"

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