Riesbeck's Rules for Flinching

Agile thinking is fine, but agile feeling is even better. If you want to do things right, it helps to react negatively and viscerally to doing them wrong. These days, I can't help flinching as soon as I hear someone say that they

• are working on anything the client / end user can't use
• are waiting for someone else to do something
• are making something complete
• are too busy to write tests
• haven't shown the client anything new this week

Wait a minute! Writing tests is writing something end users can't use. You're being inconsistent!

Only if you think the goal is to never flinch. Software development is a tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.   You have to expect to flinch a lot. The goal is to flinch less often and less hard.

Or, alternatively, turn these rules into a drinking game. Take a drink every time you hear one of the above things. The worse things get, the less you'll care.

Me and my liver will stick with flinching.