Garrick West on 'Building' Great Developers with XP & Agile plus the Best Debugging

The Mob Mentality Show

#Tech #Business #Mob Mentality

39:50

The truth is out West! We’re hopping on the ET Highway and venturing to the most notorious alien hot spots, including Roswell’s infamous crash site, Area 51’s eerie perimeter, and a mysterious desert watchtower. Join us as journalist Laura Krantz, host of the podcast Wild Thing , beams up to share stories from the front lines of UFO reporting—from strange sightings and quirky festivals to a mailbox where people leave letters to extraterrestrials. Maybe you’ll even decide for yourself: Is Earth a tourist stop for spaceships? UFO hot spots you’ll encounter in this episode: - UFO Watchtower (near Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado) - Roswell, New Mexico - Area 51, Nevada - Extraterrestrial Highway (aka State Route 375), Nevada - Little A’Le’Inn, ET Highway, Nevada - E.T. Fresh Jerky, ET Highway, Nevada - Alien Research Center, ET Highway, Nevada - The Black Mailbox, ET Highway, Nevada Via Podcast is a production of AAA Mountain West Group .…

about a year ago 48:03

MP3•Episode home

🔥 How do you actually build great software developers? How do you debug like a pro? And what happens when XP (Extreme Programming) makes a comeback after the Scrum backlash?

Join us as Garrick West—a seasoned XP practitioner, Agile coach, and software craftsmanship advocate—dives into:
✅ Building Agile Software Developers: From XP mentorship to industry-academia collaboration
✅ The Best Debugging Strategies: Unpacking The Debugging Book and applying its rules in a mob
✅ Reviving XP & Software Crafting: Why XP is more crucial than ever in Agile teams

🚀 Garrick's Story: From Early Coding to XP Champion
Garrick started coding at 10 years old (at day camps in the 80s! 😅), earned a Computer Science degree, and had his development worldview shaped by reading the first edition of Extreme Programming Explained. He has worked at XP-centric organizations, trained teams in TDD (Test-Driven Development), Ensemble Programming, and CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment), and even revamped a college curriculum from Waterfall to XP/Scrum.

🎯 "Building" Agile Software Developers

The power of an XP coach early in a developer’s journey
Public speaking as a dev skill? (Toastmasters, teaching at community college)
What happened when Garrick helped convert a college curriculum from Waterfall to XP/Scrum?
Industry experts + academia: How can professional devs and educators collaborate better?
The apprentice model: What it means and why learning stages (like the Dreyfus Model) matter
AI & developer education: Does AI replace early learning stages, or is it just a slick salesman?
Scaling Gilded Rose Kata to different skill levels
Test Coverage as a red herring—what should we focus on instead?

🐞 Debugging: The Missing Developer Superpower
Ever heard of The Debugging Book? Most developers haven’t—but it’s a game-changer. We explore:

Debugging as problem-solving, not just "stepping through" in an IDE
The 9 Debugging Rules: From reading the manual to never throwing away a good test tool
How to gamify debugging in a mob & introduce a "debugging auditor" role
The anti-pattern of multiple experiments at once—and how to avoid it
Why debugging is like navigating a labyrinth with a million wrong paths

🔄 Reviving XP & Software Crafting After the Scrum Backlash

XP fills Scrum’s missing middle: Building the right thing (Scrum) AND building it right (XP)
How Scrum without XP leads to a “Ball of Mud” in just 18 months
Why XP + Lean is the ultimate combination
Breaking free from sprints & pressure cookers—just focus on continuous iterations
Can XP stand without Scrum? Or does Scrum need XP?

💡 Don’t miss this high-energy, insight-packed conversation with Garrick West!

📢 Comment below: What’s YOUR experience with XP, Agile, or debugging challenges?
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/vxLDm-13Ny4

122 episodes

Garrick West on 'Building' Great Developers with XP & Agile plus the Best Debugging

The Mob Mentality Show

12 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

🔥 How do you actually build great software developers? How do you debug like a pro? And what happens when XP (Extreme Programming) makes a comeback after the Scrum backlash?

🎯 "Building" Agile Software Developers

The power of an XP coach early in a developer’s journey
Public speaking as a dev skill? (Toastmasters, teaching at community college)
What happened when Garrick helped convert a college curriculum from Waterfall to XP/Scrum?
Industry experts + academia: How can professional devs and educators collaborate better?
The apprentice model: What it means and why learning stages (like the Dreyfus Model) matter
AI & developer education: Does AI replace early learning stages, or is it just a slick salesman?
Scaling Gilded Rose Kata to different skill levels
Test Coverage as a red herring—what should we focus on instead?

🐞 Debugging: The Missing Developer Superpower
Ever heard of The Debugging Book? Most developers haven’t—but it’s a game-changer. We explore:

Debugging as problem-solving, not just "stepping through" in an IDE
The 9 Debugging Rules: From reading the manual to never throwing away a good test tool
How to gamify debugging in a mob & introduce a "debugging auditor" role
The anti-pattern of multiple experiments at once—and how to avoid it
Why debugging is like navigating a labyrinth with a million wrong paths

🔄 Reviving XP & Software Crafting After the Scrum Backlash

XP fills Scrum’s missing middle: Building the right thing (Scrum) AND building it right (XP)
How Scrum without XP leads to a “Ball of Mud” in just 18 months
Why XP + Lean is the ultimate combination
Breaking free from sprints & pressure cookers—just focus on continuous iterations
Can XP stand without Scrum? Or does Scrum need XP?

💡 Don’t miss this high-energy, insight-packed conversation with Garrick West!

📢 Comment below: What’s YOUR experience with XP, Agile, or debugging challenges?
Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/vxLDm-13Ny4

122 episodes

#Tech #Business #Mob Mentality

All episodes

The Mob Mentality Show

1
Liminal Thinking with Dave Gray: Meet the Man Who Accidentally Wrote a Book About Us 47:26

4 days ago47:26

47:26

What if your beliefs—about work, people, or even yourself—are quietly holding you back? In this episode of The Mob Mentality Show , we sit down with visual thinker, author, and accidental Mob Programming anthropologist Dave Gray to unpack the power of belief, clarity, and collaboration in tech and beyond. Dave Gray is known for Liminal Thinking—a book about understanding the invisible beliefs that shape behavior and systems. But did he know he was writing a book about us ? Turns out, our Mob Programming origin story and Dave’s journey are more connected than you’d expect. With roots as an artist, Dave brings a rare perspective to complex tech and business systems. From prior infographic posters that demystified RFID and Bluetooth when they first came out, to visual guides on inner transformation and his latest books, Dave's work simplifies the complicated and builds bridges for real understanding. With Dave we explore: What led Dave from agile software development to Liminal Thinking Why most Agile transformations fail How to navigate confusing resistance—are people really lost, or just saying “no”? The principles behind creating safe spaces and disrupting unhelpful routines Visual and liminal thinking for fostering organic authentic change, not just communication tricks Raw observation vs. narrative: how perception can distort reality Why having lunch with someone you think is "crazy" or "stupid" might be the wisest move The psychology behind tech resistance, organizational inertia, and true agility We also revisit how Woody Zuill and our original Mob Programming team with Chris Lucian smashed the belief that “real work” only happens in cubicles and outside of "meetings." The mob origin story had Liminal Thinking on full display as that team reflected, questioned, and ultimately acted in defiance of broken norms. The result? A shift in how we define space, collaboration, and innovation as Dave captures in his book. If you work in tech, lead change, facilitate teams, or just feel stuck inside outdated ways of working, this episode is for you. Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/fWF6kQBRdhg…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
From the Birth of XP to the Death of Scrum with Tobias Mayer 46:00

16 days ago46:00

46:00

In this thought-provoking episode, we sit down with Tobias Mayer—author, coach, and longtime voice in the Agile world—to explore the journey from his early discovery of XP (Extreme Programming) in 1997 all the way to today’s debate around the death of Scrum. Tobias shares his personal transformation from developer to Scrum Master, his resistance to early XP, and how he learned great practices from developers he managed. We unpack his reflections on Agile’s semantic drift, the role of Scrum Masters as change agents vs. bean counters, and what happens when teams do Agile without even knowing the Agile Manifesto. 🔍 Topics we dive deep into: Discovering XP through a paper against it 😅 When “Scrum” became a buzzword and what was lost in translation What it really means to live the values of the Agile Manifesto XP coaches, grassroots change, and learning from your team The difference between top-down control and emergent discovery Misused metaphors in tech: “firefighting,” “war rooms,” “soldiers,” and more Are software teams more like engineers, artisans, or ensembles? Can DORA metrics (DevOps Research and Assessment) prove or disprove Agile’s effectiveness? We also dig into mob programming (aka mobbing)—what it means, why the name matters, and whether or not new metaphors like “ensemble programming” or “teaming” (à la Amy Edmondson) better reflect how high-performing teams really work. 💡 Plus: The problem with the Product Owner (PO) role in Scrum Why language in IT shapes behavior—for better or worse Applying Artful Making to modern product development Rethinking business through the lens of theatre, philosophy, and cooperative economics The importance of psychological safety, dissent, and experimentation in creating real agility Tobias brings rich context from classics, theology, and history—yes, even turning a conference t-shirt into fashion—to challenge how we think about building products, teams, and businesses. 🛠️ Whether you're into XP, Scrum, Mob Programming, Lean, or simply want to rethink your metaphors and language at work, this episode delivers grounded insight, sharp critique, and fresh perspectives. 👉 Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of agile thinking, real teamwork, and modern product development. Video and show notes: https://youtu.be/ZFoY-De91BE…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
Overrun Navigators, Strong Opinions, and Doc Reading: Prof Ben’s Mobbing Questions from the Trenches 49:42

24 days ago49:42

49:42

🎙️ In this episode of The Mob Mentality Show , we’re joined by Professor Ben Kovitz—a former software developer with 15 years of industry experience who went on to earn a PhD and is now teaching Computer Science at Cal Poly Humboldt. Prof Ben flips the script and brings his own real-world mob programming questions—challenges he’s faced while mobbing live with college students in the classroom. This is not theory. These are hard-won questions from the trenches of mob programming in a learning environment, where curiosity meets complexity, and group dynamics get real. 🔍 We dive deep into 5 key challenges: 1. Deep Thought vs. Mob Timers: How do you carve out time to think deeply, explain thoroughly, or research ideas in a setting where timers tick every 3 minutes? Is it “wrong” to step away from the mob to figure something out? We discuss balancing solo exploration with group momentum, and how to build a culture that supports both . 2. Upfront Design or Just Start Mobbing? Do you need to pre-design work before mobbing, or can product discovery and agile planning happen in the mob itself? We explore Kanban, Continuous Delivery (CD), and even SPIDR story splitting as tools for flowing work in real time. 3. The Overrun Navigator: What happens when a mob gets too rowdy and drowns out the navigator—especially one who doesn’t yet know what to do? We unpack the difference between “good rowdy” energy and “bad rowdy” imbalance, and how facilitation, structured roles, or even a moment of silence can reset the team. 4. The Strong Opinion Navigator: Is it okay for someone with strong, often-correct opinions to mob effectively? How do we avoid stifling experimentation or learning? We tackle the value of letting experiments speak , coaching with humility, and using dominant voices to model vulnerability instead of control. 5. Mobbing with Documentation and AI: Should the mob read documentation together? What about using AI tools? We cover how teams can mob to teach effective doc reading, search strategies, and prompt engineering, while still adapting workflows to individual learning zones and WIP (Work in Progress) constraints. 💡 This episode is full of insights on: Group facilitation in real-time coding Balancing solo and group learning Creating psychological safety in a mob Adapting mob rules to context—not dogma Bringing agile, XP (Extreme Programming), and education together in the mobbing practice Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/nAAI5f7-vTs…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
Football, Trust, and Code: What Retro Bowl Teaches Tech Leaders, Coaches, and Teams 18:35

4 weeks ago18:35

18:35

🏈 Welcome to another episode of the Mob Mentality Show, where we explore the intersection of software development, leadership, and real-world lessons—from the unexpected to the game-changing. This time, we're talking Coaching Credits—as seen in the addictive mobile football game Retro Bowl—and how they map directly to trust, influence, and leadership in software teams. 🎙️ What are Coaching Credits? In Retro Bowl, Coaching Credits represent the respect and trust you’ve earned from players, staff, and fans. They let you upgrade your team, hire top-tier talent, and level up your environment. In software development, we argue Coaching Credits are just as real—earned through Extreme Programming (XP), Mob Programming, Test-Driven Development (TDD), Continuous Delivery (CD), and strong relationship-building. 👶 Austin kicks it off with a story about trying to stay awake helping his wife with their new baby—turning to Retro Bowl as a late-night lifeline. That sparks a deep dive into what the game teaches us about: Building trust and respect through small wins The balance between performance and relationships Using “credits” (influence) wisely inside and outside your team How to upgrade your environment and talent pool over time What happens when you try to “spend” influence you don’t actually have 👨‍💻 In Dev Culture Terms: Earn trust by delivering value. Spend it by coaching others, refactoring code, upgrading environments, or influencing org-wide decisions. Just like in Retro Bowl, you can overreach. Think: trying a big move when your trust bank is empty = a bounced check. 📘 We also tie Coaching Credits to Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits—specifically, the idea of an emotional bank account—and reflect on how these lessons align with the origin story of mob programming. 🚨 Key Questions We Explore: Can you go into Coaching Credit “debt”? Is quick wins and trust the only way forward when you're starting from zero? Are you too transactional in how you lead or code? Should someone build a Software Dev Sim game like Retro Bowl? 😅 💡 If you're a software engineer, tech lead, or engineering manager, this episode offers a fun but surprisingly deep framework for thinking about how trust, respect, and influence shape the way you build products and teams. Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/ZWgOkphBFNI…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
How to Split the Impossible: Slicing Stories When the Dream Is Too Big 23:33

6 weeks ago23:33

23:33

🎙️ Ever faced a product vision so massive it felt impossible to start? In this Mob Mentality Show episode, we tackle the art and science of Story Splitting — breaking down huge dreams into small, deliverable slices without losing momentum or clarity. We explore real-world strategies, including: Asking the hard questions like Do we really need to release everything at once? Using SPIDR (Spike, Path, Interface, Data, Rules) to guide story splitting Implementing Feature Flags (tools to enable/disable features without deploying new code) for flexible delivery Creating color-coded diagrams to visualize release order and dependencies Practicing "Yes, and" techniques to manage big customer asks without abandoning Agile values Running post-mortem retrospectives focused on improving splitting practices Mapping ideas with Discovery Trees (visual structures for feature evolution) Handling the tension between Big Bang marketing launches and incremental delivery Influencing sales and marketing teams to only sell what's already done vs. selling the future Identifying the impact of poor story splitting on technical debt and customer trust Differentiating splitting technical work vs. splitting user-facing features Teaching business stakeholders the fundamentals of CD (Continuous Delivery) and good story practices implicitly vs. explicitly Working through known unknowns vs. unknown unknowns in product discovery Using the Cynefin Framework (a model for navigating complexity) to decide splitting approaches Prioritizing with cost of delay and story split diagrams to maximize value This episode is packed with hands-on advice for developers, product managers, Agile coaches, and leaders looking to move fast without breaking things. Whether you're struggling with overwhelming customer requests, complicated roadmaps, or internal misalignment, learning how to split the impossible is key to success in Agile, Continuous Delivery, and Lean Product Development. Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/MjwIkiM25xM…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
How Gemba Walks and Mobbing Reveal the Truth About Your Engineering Org with Phil Borlin 46:27

6 weeks ago46:27

46:27

🎙️ What’s really happening inside your engineering org? In this episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we sit down with Philip Borlin, Director of Engineering and advocate for lean thinking, mobbing, and team capability building, to uncover how Gemba Walks, smaller batch sizes, and healthy team nudges reveal the actual state of your tech organization—not just what reports say. We explore how leaders can stop flying blind and start leading based on facts from the field. 🔍 Topics Covered: ✅ Gemba Walks (Japanese term meaning “go to the real place”): Why your assumptions about how work gets done are probably wrong How spending even one hour a week in the mob or at the code level changes everything The myth of managing solely through middle managers Why high-fidelity information beats filtered reporting Remote-friendly adaptations: mobbing, Lean coffees, and async insight gathering ✅ Mobbing (also known as ensemble programming): How mobbing surfaces capability gaps and builds shared understanding Growing capabilities without enforcing rigid standards Real stories of capability fire drills, single points of failure, and org fragility “Low and slow” growth as the only sustainable path to true skill development? ✅ Fixing Batch Size and WIP (Work In Progress): How large batches lead to delivery waste, delays, and bugs The surprising power of reducing ticket size to unlock flow Socratic coaching at stand-ups to improve team work slicing Giving permission to drop non-priority work and focus only on what matters ✅ Building a Learning Culture: Why capability resilience > retaining every team member forever Using “nudges” and peer pressure the right way Investing in bright spots without ignoring skeptics Cultivating environments where psychological safety and growth feed off each other 💡 Whether you’re a Director of Engineering, Tech Lead, Agile Coach, or Software Engineer, this episode gives you practical ways to lead with clarity, scale team capability, and build resilience into your org’s DNA. 🎧 Subscribe now so you don’t miss the drop: 👉 https://www.mobmentalityshow.com/ Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/bFMD0AsVDUA…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
No Branches?! Ron Cohen Breaks Down Trunk Based Development and Feature Flags (For Real) 43:48

8 weeks ago43:48

43:48

What if your team didn’t need branches at all? 💥 In this episode of The Mob Mentality Show , we sit down with Ron Cohen, CTO and co-founder of Bucket, to unpack the real story behind Trunk Based Development (TBD) and the practical use of Feature Flags. Ron stirred the pot online by challenging common assumptions around TBD — and now he’s here to clear the air. We talk about: What Trunk Based Development really means (Hint: It’s not just “no branches”) Why TBD isn’t just a Git strategy, but a safety mindset often backed by solid practices like Pair Programming, Mob Programming, and TDD (Test-Driven Development) Gitflow vs. TBD — which one sets your team up to move faster and safer? The myth that TBD = chaos, and why short-lived branches might still play a role How mobbing and pairing can make TBD not just possible, but powerful We also dive deep into Feature Flags (a.k.a. Feature Toggles ): Why Ron became obsessed with them — and how they changed how his teams ship code How to use toggles for faster releases, safer experiments, and smoother collaboration between devs, Product Owners (POs), and marketing The difference between feature flags that require a deployment and those that don’t The value of “dogfooding” your features in production before a full rollout Why not all toggles are created equal — from simple UI switches to ops-level controls How to avoid the mess of long-lived toggles and clean up after experiments (Austin, we're looking at you 😅) Plus: How flags can power A/B testing and internal beta programs Fowler’s definition of Feature Flags — and how it is in action Using toggles to build internal and external trust Ron’s framework for different kinds of flags in different contexts Whether you're deep into CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery), trying to tame your branching strategy, or just want to ship smarter — this episode’s packed with insights you can use immediately. 🎧 Subscribe and listen on your favorite platform: 👉 https://www.mobmentalityshow.com/ Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/4PZN1yO8l2c…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
How Software Prof Ben Kovitz Turned His Class into a Live Coding Mob 45:40

9 weeks ago45:40

45:40

What happens when a college software design course ditches traditional lectures and embraces Mob Programming? In this episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we sit down with Ben Kovitz, a former software developer turned professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, to explore his innovative approach to teaching software design through mobbing. Topics Covered: ✅ From Industry to Academia: Why Ben left software development to become a professor and how he discovered mob programming. ✅ Redefining Software Education: Instead of 30 traditional lectures on software design, Ben’s students learn by doing—designing software while coding. ✅ The Power of Mobbing in the Classroom: How students collaborate in the mob of 8, rapidly sharing knowledge and tackling challenges together. ✅ Fast Learning vs. Lectures: Why mobbing enables faster knowledge transfer compared to passive lectures. ✅ Strong-Style Navigation: How rotations and fast timers helped to stimulate a highly effective learning environment. ✅ The Role of the Navigator: How students help each other navigate, learn C++ and the QT framework, and document key lessons from each mob session. ✅ Real-World Software Challenges: Simulating legacy code maintenance, evolutionary design, and design patterns like MVC (Model-View-Controller). ✅ Overcoming Student Struggles: What happens when students don’t know how to navigate? How asking for help and learning together fosters growth. ✅ Teaching Through Experience: Letting students experiment with flawed solutions before introducing better design principles. ✅ Assessment & Engagement: How Ben measures student participation, engagement, and learning outcomes in a mobbing environment. Why This Matters: Traditional software design education can leave students unprepared for the realities of refactoring real code and collaborative development. By integrating Mob Programming, refactoring techniques, and hands-on problem-solving, Ben Kovitz is equipping the next generation of developers with practical, real-world skills and deeper design insights. 📢 Subscribe to the Mob Mentality Show to stay updated on the latest insights in Mob Programming, Extreme Programming (XP), Agile, and collaborative software development! 🎧 Listen on your favorite podcast platform: https://www.mobmentalityshow.com 🔔 Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more episodes on software development, coding education, and team collaboration! Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/Rajvp2nrg1A…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
Garrick West on 'Building' Great Developers with XP & Agile plus the Best Debugging 48:03

11 weeks ago48:03

48:03

🔥 How do you actually build great software developers? How do you debug like a pro? And what happens when XP (Extreme Programming) makes a comeback after the Scrum backlash? Join us as Garrick West—a seasoned XP practitioner, Agile coach, and software craftsmanship advocate—dives into: ✅ Building Agile Software Developers: From XP mentorship to industry-academia collaboration ✅ The Best Debugging Strategies: Unpacking The Debugging Book and applying its rules in a mob ✅ Reviving XP & Software Crafting: Why XP is more crucial than ever in Agile teams 🚀 Garrick's Story: From Early Coding to XP Champion Garrick started coding at 10 years old (at day camps in the 80s! 😅), earned a Computer Science degree, and had his development worldview shaped by reading the first edition of Extreme Programming Explained . He has worked at XP-centric organizations, trained teams in TDD (Test-Driven Development), Ensemble Programming, and CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment), and even revamped a college curriculum from Waterfall to XP/Scrum. 🎯 "Building" Agile Software Developers The power of an XP coach early in a developer’s journey Public speaking as a dev skill? (Toastmasters, teaching at community college) What happened when Garrick helped convert a college curriculum from Waterfall to XP/Scrum? Industry experts + academia: How can professional devs and educators collaborate better? The apprentice model: What it means and why learning stages (like the Dreyfus Model) matter AI & developer education: Does AI replace early learning stages, or is it just a slick salesman? Scaling Gilded Rose Kata to different skill levels Test Coverage as a red herring—what should we focus on instead? 🐞 Debugging: The Missing Developer Superpower Ever heard of The Debugging Book ? Most developers haven’t—but it’s a game-changer. We explore: Debugging as problem-solving, not just "stepping through" in an IDE The 9 Debugging Rules: From reading the manual to never throwing away a good test tool How to gamify debugging in a mob & introduce a "debugging auditor" role The anti-pattern of multiple experiments at once—and how to avoid it Why debugging is like navigating a labyrinth with a million wrong paths 🔄 Reviving XP & Software Crafting After the Scrum Backlash XP fills Scrum’s missing middle: Building the right thing (Scrum) AND building it right (XP) How Scrum without XP leads to a “Ball of Mud” in just 18 months Why XP + Lean is the ultimate combination Breaking free from sprints & pressure cookers—just focus on continuous iterations Can XP stand without Scrum? Or does Scrum need XP? 💡 Don’t miss this high-energy, insight-packed conversation with Garrick West! 📢 Comment below: What’s YOUR experience with XP, Agile, or debugging challenges? Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/vxLDm-13Ny4…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
Game Jams & Mobbing: Supercharging Learning, Speed, and Creativity with James Herr 46:04

12 weeks ago46:04

46:04

🚀 How do Game Jams accelerate learning? Can mobbing make game development more effective? In this episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we dive deep into Game Jams, Mobbing, and Game Dev Collaboration with James Herr—a full-stack developer, game dev enthusiast, and published game creator on Steam. 🎮 What You'll Learn in This Episode: 🔹 What Are Game Jams and why they’re a must-try for devs? 🔹 The tech stacks and tools commonly used in Game Jams 🔹 How themes shape a Game Jam’s creativity and constraints 🔹 How James is bringing mobbing into Game Jams 🔹 The difference between solo development, swarming, and full mobbing? 🔹 Pros & Cons of Mobbing Game Jams—Does it boost creativity or slow things down? 🔹 How Discord & Twitch fuel real-time game dev collaboration 🔹 Can Twitch chat act as a “navigator” in game development? Does the live audience guide decisions? 🔹 How Game Jams reveal code smells faster and teach refactoring & design patterns 🔹 Why public game dev can be a game-changer for learning speed 🔹 How Game Jams can simulate real-world software challenges and improve teamwork 🔹 Mob timer tools & Git handover techniques for smoother collaboration 🤝 Why This Episode Matters: Mobbing isn’t just for software teams—it’s transforming game development, learning, and onboarding. James shares his firsthand experience mobbing with kids, running Game Jams with cross-discipline teams, and teaching mobbing roles in game dev. Whether you’re a seasoned developer, indie game creator, or just curious about Game Jams, this episode is packed with actionable insights! 📢 Want to Join the Game Dev Community? James discusses how Discord and Twitch connect developers worldwide, making it easy to collaborate, get feedback, and learn from others. Checkout James' communities here: https://jamcraft.io/ 🎧 Subscribe & Listen Now! Don’t miss out! Subscribe to the Mob Mentality Show and get notified when this episode drops: 🔗 https://www.mobmentalityshow.com/ Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/AZEH_FmBBKs…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
TDD, Misconceptions, and Better Testing with Jason Swett 44:51

12 weeks ago44:51

44:51

🚀 Why is there so much confusion around Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Automated Testing? Why do many developers struggle with testing, and what are they getting wrong? In this episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we sit down with Jason Swett—author, speaker, and a go-to expert on Rails testing—to unpack the most common misconceptions, challenges, and best practices in modern software testing. 🔍 Topics We Cover: ✅ Why Jason Swett is passionate about Automated Testing and why he wants to help the development community ✅ Misconceptions about TDD (Test-Driven Development)—not liking TDD itself vs. not liking something called "TDD" ✅ The reality of software testing—why most developers aren't doing it well and how to improve ✅ Testing vs. verification vs. specification—what is a test really? What is code? ✅ Red, Green, Refactor vs. Specify, Encode, Fulfill—what do these different ways of thinking about TDD highlight? ✅ Why software changeability matters and how to reduce the cost of ownership ✅ What are you actually testing? The difference between testing the product (e.g., squirt gun) vs. testing the system that builds it ✅ The role of automation in development—is code like factory machinery? ✅ How testing connects to broader software and team dynamics—beyond just writing tests ✅ Common pitfalls in testing and how to ensure your tests actually add value ✅ Logical debates vs. ego-driven arguments—how to have productive discussions about TDD 💡 Key Takeaways: 🔹 TDD is often misunderstood—before rejecting it, understand what it really is 🔹 Many developers struggle with writing the right kind of tests—knowing what to test is critical 🔹 Automated tests don’t just verify code; they help manage change and reduce long-term costs 🔹 Good testing and TDD are about more than just code—they’re about communication, clarity, and better software development 📌 Who should watch/listen? If you’re a developer, tester, software engineer, or tech lead who wants to improve your testing skills, understand TDD better, and learn from a Rails testing expert, this episode is for you! 🎧 Subscribe & Listen: Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to the Mob Mentality Show on your favorite platform: 👉 https://www.mobmentalityshow.com/ 🔥 Join the Conversation! Have thoughts on TDD and Automated Testing? Share them in the comments! Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/_kL_tXiNcl4…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
Agile Principle #12: Continuous Reflection & Adjustment in Mobbing 12:33

14 weeks ago12:33

12:33

How often should Agile teams reflect and adjust? Is your team on a road with switchbacks but they are not turning the wheel? In this episode of The Mob Mentality Show, we take a deep dive into Agile Principle #12, which states: "At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly." From a Mob Programming perspective, we explore what "tuning and adjusting" really looks like in high-uncertainty, high-interdependence work. Is it like steering a car, constantly making small adjustments, or is it something that requires far less steering? How do different approaches—Waterfall, 2 Week Scrum, and Mob Programming—each handle batch size and feedback loops with continuous improvement? In This Episode, We Discuss: ✅ Agile Principle #12—How it drives continuous improvement in teams ✅ "Regular Intervals"—Comparing Waterfall, 2-week Scrum sprints, and healthy mobbing ✅ Batch Size & Effectiveness—How small adjustments impact team agility ✅ Single vs. Double Loop Learning—Which leads to deeper team growth? ✅ Diversity & Focus—Does learning together accelerate improvement more than learning separately? ✅ The Cynefin Model—Navigating uncertainty and complexity in Agile work ✅ Liminal Thinking—How belief structures and assumptions impact team reflection Many teams go through the motions of retrospectives, but are they truly adjusting their behavior effectively? Join us for this insightful discussion where we challenge assumptions, explore deeper learning, and uncover the best ways to reflect, adapt, and improve as a team. 🎧 Subscribe & Listen: Don't miss this episode! Subscribe on your favorite platform here: 🔗 https://www.mobmentalityshow.com/ 📩 Connect with Us Let us know your thoughts in the comments! How does your team reflect and adjust? Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/ikmWgj44g28…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
When TDD Meets R&D: How to Keep Small Steps & Fast Feedback Loops in High Uncertainty 26:10

16 weeks ago26:10

26:10

How do you balance small, iterative progress with the vast unknowns of research and development (R&D)? Can test-driven development (TDD) literally or "in spirit" still provide value when you're navigating uncharted territory? In this episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we dive deep into the intersection of R&D Mobbing and software development, exploring real-world scenarios, strategies, and challenges teams face when innovating under uncertainty. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: 🔬 Chris's Journey with Mob Randori & R&D: From "we don’t know what we’re doing" to "we know what we’re doing"—how mob programming helped transform uncertainty into effective delivery. 🛠️ R&D vs. CD? Can teams practice continuous delivery (CD) even when tackling complex, unknown problem spaces? If so, is there a change in what is "delivered"? 📌 Keeping Small Steps & Feedback Loops in R&D: TDD is known for its rapid feedback and endorphin kicks—but how do you retain those benefits when exploring an unfamiliar landscape? 🔄 Adjusting Your Mobbing for the Task at Hand: When should you modify your mob programming approach to fit the nature of research-driven work versus production-level development? 🧗‍♂️ Clean Code Spelunking & Navigating the Unknown: Techniques for digging deep into existing codebases while ensuring safety and maintaining forward momentum. 🚩 Feature Flags & Safety in R&D: How to experiment with new ideas and do Trunk Based Development (TBD) without introducing instability to production. 📊 Transparency, Visualization & Business Buy-in: Addressing stakeholder fear of an "infinite problem space." 🧠 The Inverse of ZOMBIES in R&D Mode: How do you maintain focus, momentum, and value delivery when dealing with high levels of uncertainty? ⚡ Real-Life R&D Success Stories & Lessons Learned: Practical examples of mob programming driving R&D innovation in high-unknown environments. If you’ve ever wondered how to keep experimentation structured, learning fast, and delivery continuous—even when dealing with complex unknowns—this episode is for you! 📌 Watch More Episodes & Subscribe on Your Favorite Platform: https://www.mobmentalityshow.com/ 🔔 Don’t miss future episodes—hit the subscribe button! Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/nipbhFopqMM…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
The DDD Dream? A Domain Expert Full-Time in a Mob 🚀 17:28

17 weeks ago17:28

17:28

Is the ultimate Domain-Driven Design (DDD) dream having a domain expert fully embedded in a Mob? Or does it come with hidden trade-offs? In this thought-provoking episode of the Mob Mentality Show, we explore the benefits, challenges, and real-world experiences of having a domain expert (or product owner) participate full-time in a Mob—not just as a consultant but as an active driver and navigator. 🔹 What We Discuss in This Episode: ✅ Quick Access vs. Full-Time Participation – Is it better to have a domain expert available when needed or fully immersed in the Mob? ✅ Real-World Stories – Chris shares insights from four product owners with different availability levels and how that impacted effectiveness. Austin reveals what happened when a domain expert became a full-time Mobber. ✅ The Pros of a Full-Time Domain Expert in a Mob – Faster decisions, deeper collaboration, improved knowledge transfer, and more! ✅ Natural Synergy with DDD – How DDD experts seamlessly jump into code naming, improving model alignment. ✅ Testers & Domain Experts: A Similar Integration? – The parallels between merging testers into a Mob and embedding domain experts. ✅ Potential Downsides – Does being in the Mob full-time reduce a domain expert’s ability to stay ahead in their field? ✅ Autonomy & Learning Diversity – How does this setup impact team growth and decision-making? ✅ Is This the DDD Dream? – With fewer moving parts (like event storming), does a domain expert in the Mob make DDD even more effective? ✅ The Power of Different Perspectives – Why having a built-in devil’s advocate can enhance team decision-making. ✅ The Truth About Cryptic Code – Can a domain expert help clarify unclear code in real time? 🎧 Don’t Miss This Insightful Discussion! Hit Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don’t miss future episodes! Find us on your favorite platform here 👉 https://www.mobmentalityshow.com/ What do you think? Would you want a domain expert full-time in your Mob? Drop a comment below! ⬇️ Video and Show Notes: https://youtu.be/7__ghFw_Z3g…

The Mob Mentality Show

1
LLMs, DSLs, and the Art of Generating Generators for Leaner Systems 29:06

17 weeks ago29:06