Thursday was tough, the most intense day of the class. When we thought we had learned the most we got to do the hardest problem. OR actually, since there are no hard problems, the hardest solution we did. We eagerly fell into every trap that was set up ...by ourselves. We had much discussion about process, confused leadership with telling others what to do, clinging to our own ideas instead of focusing on the end result. The funniest thing of all, I think, was that we ended up after three hours with a simplification of our zero-level solution. So waht took twelve peope three hours to do could very likely have been achived by three people in twelve minutes!
The other groups solution of the prolem we created. Solved with brilliance in 59.59 of the hour allowed. Stanley S Sczorcecode is a real S-person.
It was also fun to observe them solving the problem with elegance. Just as us, they solved the earlier problem the hard way and this the easy way. The result - well, the easiest way took shortest time and produced the better result! When people are having anjoyong themselves, that is when they are most effective.
The grand finale: Red Hot Party Poopers kicks ass with their first (and last) performance. On Youtube there is a video that shows how fun we had .
Some of the lyrics, adapted by myself from an old classic.
I rushed away in a taxi to try to get the train in time. I only missed it with a couple of minutes and watched it leave as I exited the taxi. The bonus fifty-five minutes I got were spent on re-writing next coneference talk completely.
I do hope sincerely that I will remember to apply the things I have learned and become a better leader. One of the best learnings for me as a tester was that the fact that in many cases the LESS detail we write in the requirements the BETTER the solution will be. The less we try to control, the better motivated, creative and often also organised the team will be.
There are still some places left on the coming class in USA in March.