I have been reading James Anderson Winn’s masterpiece, “The Poetry of War,” during my recent vacation. Regardless of whether or not you like poetry or war, this book is a must-read. Why the strong recommendation? I have never read anything that can be applied to the roots of programmer behavior in Agile context as well as this book does. Winn might not know what Agile or Scrum or XP means, but standing on the shoulders of giants like Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Robert Graves, he penetrates the psychology of motivation in an exceptionally deep manner. If you are asking yourself “What makes them tick?” – a question that Paul Beavers of BMC addressed in his blog entry – you owe it to yourself to pick up Winn’s book and read it.
In analyzing the poem, “To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars – For the Fourth Time” by Robert Graves, Winn makes the following observation:
“Graves dismisses courage, fear, love, anger, and hate as motives, claiming that the soldier fights only because of his pride”.
Readers of this blog who read my post, One of Us, might remember that I emphasized how essential the pride of the craftsman is to great Agile leadership. Borrowing the eloquence of Winn, I would dare say something like the following:
“IMHO economical rewards and fear of failure are secondary factors in Agile leadership. A great Agilist leads primarily through taking great pride in his/her work”.
Fascinatingly enough, Winn illuminates numerous motives (in addition to those cited above) that are quite applicable to debates currently taking place in the Agile community. For example, his insightful discussion of Honour as an inexhaustible treasury versus honour being finite, applies nicely to a major theme presented and discussed in the Agile 2008 conference - individual rewards versus team rewards.
I don’t doubt that various methodical aspects of Agile – e.g. Planning Poker and/or Continuous Integration – are critical for success. There exists, however, a deeper, human truth to Agile that is both simple and elusive. It is the simultaneous application of rigorous methodical practices together with the touch of the pride that makes the Agile leader One of Us.
If you are interested in Agile, I encourage you to read “The Poetry of War,” cover to cover.
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