Back Matter

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Afterword

When we first set out to write this book, our goal was to compile a large list of common behaviors and practices that caused agile projects to fail—from faulty hiring processes to bad management. This list was rooted in shared frustrations, failed projects, and (what we perceived to be) difficult work environments. If we were to be perfectly honest with ourselves, we probably recorded these observations merely to air our grievances. But as we began analyzing and discussing our notes among ourselves, it quickly became evident to us that the true value in writing lies in the clarity that it provides the author. The process of sharing our collective experiences among ourselves helped us gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a good leader, and helped us gain a deeper appreciation of just how complex dealing with people really is (both from the perspective of the leader and the led). Over time, and very slowly, this list of failures turned into a conversation. A conversation that we edited, tore apart, re-wrote, and refined. Over and over again, just like one would roll a snowball which eventually turns into a snowman. We uncovered new hidden debts to our past experiences—we saw how what we learned was not just shaped by the negative: indeed, the excellent colleagues, great bosses, and productive work environments were what helped us get to where we are today. As this book progressed, we tried to marry our experiences with the latest studies and theories in the field. We tried breaking down the problem of leadership just as a software engineer would break down a programming problem. Nevertheless, our book is far from perfect and far from all-encompassing. Just as no one shoe size fits all, no one book can teach you everything that there is to know about leadership or project management. There exist a vast myriad of different schools of thought, different leadership styles, and different management practices, and we have not even come close to scratching the surface of what is an extremely complex topic. As such, we recommend that you, instead of considering our book as an authoritative guide, use what you have learned to gain an insight into what worked and did not work well when it came to our execution of remote agile projects. Remember the words of Arthur Schopenhauer when he wrote:¹ “for the man who studies to gain insight, books and studies are merely rungs of the ladder on which he climbs to the summit of knowledge. As soon as a rung has raised him up one step, he leaves it behind. On the other hand, the many who study in order to fill their memory do not use the rungs of the ladder for climbing, but take them off and load themselves with them to take away, rejoicing at the increasing weight of the burden. They remain below forever, because they bear what should have bourne them.”

And with this, we bid you farewell, in hope that reading our short conversation was as useful to you, the reader, as it was to us writing it.

Index

Accountability

Adaptation

AI-based estimation

Analytical skills

Anchoring Bias

Arrogance

Artistic leaders

Attributes

Autocratic/authoritarian, leadership

Autonomy

Bad engineer

Bad feedback

characteristics

vs. good feedback

Bad processes

Bandwagon effect

Behavioral interviews

Biases

Body of Knowledge (BoK)

Bosses and managers

Broken window environment

Broken Window Theory

Bureaucracy

excessive bureaucracy

external

healthy bureaucratic processes

inefficiencies

internal

internal organization

Parkinson’s Law

processes

Bureaucracy reduction

Business intelligence

Calibration tests

Career Management

Choice-Supportive Bias

Collaboration

Communication

context

cultural and behavioral red lines

Conductors

Confirmation bias

Consumer engagement

Cost of bad engineers

Cost of hiring

COVID-19 pandemic

Cult of personality

Customer satisfaction

DACI

Decision making

Decision-making framework

Democratic leadership

Direct costs

Directly Responsible Individuals (DRIs)

Dishonesty

Diversity

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

Documented processes

Dunning-Kruger effect

Dysfunctional teams

Effective organization

Empathy

Empirical Knowledge

Engagement

Engineering Manager (EMs)

Enthusiasm

Equity

Ethical behavior

Ethics

building strong ethical position

cult of personality

Lucifer effect

market incentives

personal identity and accountability

words

Excessive bureaucracy

Expectation alignment

Expectation management

Expectations

insufficient information

situational

unrealistic expectations

Table of Contents for Back Matter

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Table of Contents for
Back Matter