For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)
Episode 031: Retrospectives and Agile Fluency with Diana Larsen
** This conversation stems from an earlier episode when Janelle joined the panel: Episode 028: Brains, Feedback Systems, Demons, and Goats.
02:03 – Retrospectives **
“Software work is learning work.” @DianaOfPortland
— Greater Than Code (@greaterthancode) May 3, 2017
11:07 – Documenting Feelings and Emotions
17:40 – Following Through With and Solving Action Plans
20:08 – Focusing, Lists of Action, and “Best Practices”
30:27 – What is value in the context of software development? / Measuring Waste
33:39 – Taking Things in Small, Bite-sized Pieces: Refactoring
55:58 – Agile Fluency **
Your Path through Agile Fluency on Martin Fowler’s Blog
Reflections:
Janelle: Thinking about the focusing step and how much effort goes into those things versus the benefits of focusing on things from the recent past. Taking human emotions into consideration.
Diana: Managing learning and collecting data, and issues around value.
Sam: Different forms and cycles of feedback.
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Special Guest: Diana Larsen.