GOTO Zurich for Leaders is the combination of break-through technology with management 3.0 and leadership. As a premier software conference, GOTO Zurich for Leaders cultivates this combination. When creating the GOTO conference, we strive to design a specific program for leaders to foster all aspects of excellence. GOTO Zurich for Leaders emphasises the presentation of the latest experience and trends in leadership and management, to unleash the full potential of software development.

Ralf Westphal, One Man Think Tank

Ralf Westphal

Biography: Ralf Westphal

Ralf Westphal is a freelance consultant, project coach, and trainer on software architectural topics and team organization. He is the author of more than 500 publications since 1998. Together with his colleague Stefan Lieser he is the co-founder of the "Clean Code Developer" initiative to increase software quality; also Ralf is working as one of the clean-code-advisors.de.

Twitter: @ralfw

Presentation: Spinning - Taking Agility for a Ride

Time: Wednesday 10:20 - 11:10 / Location: Pendulum

Why do customers have to pay for stuff that in the end is not so important anymore? How come many teams have a hard time taking up new habits? Two questions, one answer: because feedback is taking too long. Or to put it differently, software development is lacking pull. The focus still is on push. Adding to a backlog is more important than pulling releases out of the production process and getting them scrutinized by the customer.

But what's true pull in software development?

Pull is naturally created once the value system shifts to acceptance over specification, progress over completion, and reactivity over commitment.

Let's forget about two week sprints. Instead let's deliver user relevant stuff every single day - and go home on time and satisfied. That's what Spinning is about.

Workshop: Agile Software Design using Pen and Paper

Time: Tuesday 09:00 - 16:00 / Location: Index B

Designing software before coding is outdated? True design is when software is grown guided by tests? Wait a minute! Maybe that's throwing out the baby with the bath. Maybe that's a common belief because of a premise that should be questioned. Maybe that premise is you need to use lots of UML and OOA/D for design.

But what if the premise is changed? What if you could use an approach directly leading from requirements to design, and then to code? What if the design was naturally retained in code?

There is hope that thinking before coding actually helps. Less refactoring due to well thought out structures gives you more time to actually implement features. Watch how this can be done with the cheapest tools available: pen and pape