Jan-29-08: Google Workshop, “Coding Values, Coding Cultures”
Luke Hohmann was invited to teach a workshop for Google employees on “Coding Values, Coding Cultures”.
When: 1:30PM-5pm, January 29th, 2008
Where: Google HQ, Mountain View, CA
Who: This was an internal class for Google employees, by invitation only.
Coding Values, Coding Cultures
Coding Values, Coding Cultures is a two hour interactive lecture based on the material found in Journey of the Software Professional: A Sociology of Software Development (Prentice-Hall).
As developers, we make countless numbers of decisions during development. Some of these decisions are made according to our experience as well as our particular style (or method) of software development (e.g., XP or SCRUM or whatever). Some people think that the ideal approach to making these decisions is to base them on objective criteria provided by such things as requirements documents. In reality, many, if not most, decisions are not made objectively. Instead, they are made subjectively, according to our values, our culture, and the context of our project. In this session you will learn how values guide development activities, how to identify, clarify, and manage your values and those of your team to create a smoother, more productive, and ultimately more satisfying work environment.
Armed with an understanding of values, we can next tackle culture. Developers rarely work alone. We work in teams. And teams have a culture. The real question is this: What is culture? How do you manage it?
The second half of this session addresses culture. It will introduce you to the core components of any culture, teach you how to identify these components through a “culture dig”, and show you how you can guide and shape culture to realize specific objectives. I’ll conclude the session by showing how culture reflects and reinforces values, and pave the way to establishing a healthy and vibrant culture.
Target Audience: Developers and technical leaders who are involved in creating software products
Format: Highly interactive two hour lecture, with multiple exercises
