Presentation: Tweet"The Challenge of Craft"

Historically, the Craft movement was an act of rebellion against an agile community that seemed to be moving away from eXtreme Programming values (e.g. Courage) and practices (e.g. elegant code) that reflected pride of workmanship and towards Scrum and Lean, i.e. management. Like most rebellions, it was clear what Craft was against, but not as clear what is was for or how to achieve whatever objectives it might have. Things have improved greatly since then, but many challenges remain.

This talk attempts to explore perhaps the greatest of these challenges and how it might be satisfied. What does it mean for one to commit to Craft and what are the expectations of individuals, in terms knowledge, skills, and experience, as they transition from novice to professional to master. In doing so, we will examine variations on apprenticeship - the most common means for assisting individuals realize their potential as craftsmen.

Attendees will leave with some clear guidelines: how to plan and follow your individual achievement, how to best mentor and facilitate others, and how to help the community establish and maintain a tradition, a culture, of Software Craft.