Explore the value of documenting software failures and how it can foster growth. Squirrel and Jeffrey discuss insights from a renowned computer scientist who shares lessons learned from his own mistakes. They argue that traditional retrospectives often fall short and advocate for a more comprehensive approach. By building knowledge bases around errors, teams can promote transparency and continuous improvement, transforming failures into valuable learning opportunities.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Knuth's Meticulous Documentation
Donald Knuth meticulously documented failures in his software, TECH.
This detailed analysis offers valuable insights, despite being a solo project.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Book on Civil Engineering Failures
A book for civil engineers details defective foundation work, essentially buildings that fell down.
This emphasizes the importance of learning from failures, even in different fields.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Publicize Failure Analyses
Analyze failures in detail and publicize findings for broader learning.
Go beyond simply fixing the immediate issue; generate higher-level knowledge.
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Do you document and analyse failure? In this episode, Squirrel and Jeffrey draw inspiration from Donald Knuth's detailed study of his own software mistakes to give you the lowdown on learning from past mistakes, including meaningful postmortems and retrospectives.
LINKS:
- Knuth's paper: https://yurichev.com/mirrors/knuth1989.pdf
- Foundation Failures: https://www.abebooks.com/Foundation-Failures-Szechy-C-Concrete-Publications/20924178050/bd
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And we'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show: email us at info@agileconversations.com
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About Your Hosts
Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick joined forces at TIM Group in 2013, where they studied and practised the art of management through difficult conversations. Over a decade later, they remain united in their passion for growing profitable organisations through better communication.
Squirrel is an advisor, author, keynote speaker, coach, and consultant, and he's helped over 300 companies of all sizes make huge, profitable improvements in their culture, skills, and processes.
You can find out more about his work here: douglassquirrel.com/index.html
Jeffrey is Vice President of Engineering at ION Analytics, Organiser at CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference, and is an accomplished author and speaker.
You can connect with him here: www.linkedin.com/in/jfredrick/
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