eekim.com: EEK Speaks

Tue, May 30, 2006

Making Change Safe #

My buddy, JustinLin, has a company that recently migrated from J2EE to RubyOnRails, and he's been thrilled by the results. This morning, we were IMing about AgileProgramming, and something he said about UnitTests? really struck a chord. He said that their tests softened their fear of change, which changed the team's entire attitude about change in general. (KJX)

I've written about UnitTests? before in a coding context, and of course, their importance is well understood in the AgileProgramming community. What struck me about Justin's comments was that he was describing how a tool in a very specific context was catalyzing a cultural shift within his company. While he didn't say this explicitly, I can imagine that shift extending beyond the technical component of the company. (KJY)

The lesson: Tools that make change safe facilitate a culture of adaptation. An adaptive organization is a strong, effective organization. (KJZ)

What are some other tools that make change safe? I saw KellanElliottMcCrea yesterday (welcome back to California, Kellan!), who reminded me of a suggestion I had made for SocialSourceCommons a while back: Wiki-style editing works because the revision history is visible. A visible revision history encourages change in the form of PermissionToParticipate, and that in turn can lead to a larger cultural shift within your team and even your organization as a whole. (KK0)

/collaboration | Posted at 11:15am

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EEK Speaks

A blog about collaboration, community-building, and the various goings-on at Blue Oxen Associates, with occasional digressions on food and other vital matters.