Winning at Cooperative Games

Dave Hoover @davehoover

Dev Bootcamp, Chicago

The right conference can change your life

Back to the Point

• Introducing a cool idea from an Agile pioneer

• How I think about cooperative games

• Apprenticeship as a key strategy for winning

Who’s this?

#protip How do you pronounce this word?

Cockburn

import cockburn.ideas; // check @davehoover

Disclaimer: I like games. I like winning.

Software development is a unique kind of activity

• Cooperative • Finite • Goal-seeking • Competitive

People are increasingly at the center of the game

Organizational survival is a different game

• Cooperative • Infinite* • Goal-seeking • Competitive

Organizational game: set up for the next win

Organizational winning: attract & grow awesome

people

Two-pronged approach to growth

Apprenticeship grows (and attracts)

awesome people (players of the game)

Ingredients of a good Apprenticeship Program

• Mentor, Team, Owner

• Sustainable Ratio

• Culture over Curriculum

• In the Trenches

• Pet Project

• Milestones

• Feedback Loops

Apprenticeship is “easy”, but it’s a hard move

Thanks, Let’s talk!

Dave Hoover @davehoover

Dev Bootcamp, Chicago