The Agile Prankster

Posted on December 3, 2009
Filed Under Articles | Leave a Comment

Release Hardening

The most stressful part of the release. Here’s my persona at the moment:

  1. Constant monitor of all bugs, unfinished stories, and blockers. Not the most popular team member at the moment. The monitoring part seems like I’m just nagging. People run away when I approach. Ultimately, I just suck.
  2. Briber of teams: “Damn, if you actually do all you committed to in this iteration, I’ll take YOU ALL out to Thai food”! Nice motivator…(we’ll see if that works)
  3. Accountant and reporter for Release Criteria: 455 regression tests/10 testers/10 work days to go, seems reasonable, except, *It’s Broken!* There are still XX bugs to burn down, XX days left, we still need soak time, and QA cannot fully test the system. Unblock that! Clock ticking away…
  4. And, of course, the date isn’t moving. It can’t. I’m as un-lovely as it gets. I’m completely accountable for this release. Sleep is light at best.
  5. But, this is why I do it. I love it. I’ve been here dozens of times before and agile teams  always get through it because they’re agile. Unfortunately, it’s still stressful.

Imagine my constitution. It’s Monday morning, my remote cube mate who is visiting from Utah tries to be cordial. I’m, um, just not. Cracking a smile is painful. I lighten up through the week, but obviously, just not enough for The Agile Prankster.

Mid-week, after a much needed workout, a bowl of 1/2 eaten macaroni and cheese is discovered in my desk drawer. I pulled it out and cracked up! On goes the detective hat.

It was lunchtime. I meander into the kitchen. I sit down with the developers (who amazingly made room). Made small talk about finding a 1/2 eaten bowl of macaroni and cheese in my drawer. “Wally was eating macaroni and cheese for lunch”, says the software architect. BUSTED! The Prankster has been discovered!

I march back to my cube farm to see Wally, firmware architect, grinning ear to ear, face red. Carrot in my hand, I say: “This carrot represents the turd I wanted to place on your chair!” We crack up…

Wally, you’re it. Watch out for creatures or old food in your travel bag next time you visit. You win the award for the Agile Prankster.

Thanks for lightening up my week. Game ON!

Comments

Leave a Reply