Dungeons, Dragons & Developers

A presentation at Tech Nottingham, July 2018 in July 2018 in Nottingham, UK by Matt Brunt

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@Brunty Dungeons !

Dragons "

&

Developers

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@Brunty Firstly …

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@Brunty Just so we’re clear …

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@Brunty Name: Matt Brunt

Age: 30

Class: Nerd

Likes: Jaffa cakes

Dislikes: Beetroot

Strength : 10

Constitution : 8

Dexterity : 11

Wisdom : 12

Intelligence : 18

Charisma : 14

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@Brunty Name: Mordecai Solomon

Age: 80

Class: Wizard

Likes: Books

Dislikes: People

Strength : 7

Constitution : 10

Dexterity : 15

Wisdom : 12

Intelligence : 19

Charisma : 9

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@Brunty Dungeons & Dragons

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@Brunty Dungeons & Dragons Environment Problems to solve

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@Brunty The dungeon master

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@Brunty –Steve Jobs “ It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do. ”

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@Brunty Our story beginS WITH… YOU

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@Brunty Your Alignment

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@Brunty Lawful

Good Neutral Good Chaotic 
 Good Lawful Neutral True Neutral Chaotic Neutral Lawful

Evil Neutral

Evil Chaotic

Evil

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@Brunty Lawful

Good Neutral Good Chaotic 
 Good Lawful Neutral True Neutral Chaotic Neutral Lawful

Evil Neutral

Evil Chaotic

Evil

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@Brunty Lawful

Good Neutral Good Chaotic 
 Good Lawful Neutral True Neutral Chaotic Neutral Lawful

Evil Neutral

Evil Chaotic

Evil

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@Brunty Lawful

Good Neutral Good Chaotic 
 Good Lawful Neutral True Neutral Chaotic Neutral Lawful

Evil Neutral

Evil Chaotic

Evil

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@Brunty My Alignment ? Neutral Good

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@Brunty wizards

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@Brunty $ Technical:

Testing

Algorithms

Databases

Complimentary:

Communication

Empathy

Creativity ⭐

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

⭐ ⭐


 
 ⭐ 
 ⭐

⭐ ⭐

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@Brunty Our party

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@Brunty $ Wizard

$ Wizard

$ Wizard

$ Wizard Algorithms & 
 Algorithms & 
 Algorithms & 
 Algorithms &

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@Brunty The Quest

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@Brunty Mordecai Makaria Caera Ebenezer The goal “I know what I’m doing!” A B

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@Brunty Smash first

plan later

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@Brunty Smash first

plan

later never

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@Brunty Find your Balance

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@Brunty ' Fighter

$ Wizard

( Rogue

✨ Cleric Comms *

Algorithms &

Creativity +

Empathy ❤

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@Brunty Quest requirements

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@Brunty Fight your side

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@Brunty –Me “ Value Trust over control. if you can trust your team, you worry less about controlling everything ”

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@Brunty Okay, let’s get going !

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@Brunty A B The goal Team

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@Brunty Performance Effectiveness Forming Storming Norming Performing

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@Brunty “Hey folks,

can I join you ?”

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@Brunty ' Fighter

$ Wizard

( Rogue

✨ Cleric

druid Comms .

Algorithms &

Creativity +

Empathy ❤

Testing ✅

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@Brunty Performance Effectiveness Forming Storming Norming Performing

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@Brunty Losing the path

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@Brunty Team Rogue A B

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@Brunty Crossing the river

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@Brunty Rope: Quick, only temporary but needs rope.

Build a bridge: Slow, needs lots of materials, but re-usable for yourself and others for years to come.

Fly: Super quick, requires the wizard to be able to use this.

Find another way: Needs the least preparation and materials, but unknown on how long it’ll take.

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@Brunty Decisions need context

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@Brunty Hey DM, can we try …?

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@Brunty –Spotify 
 https://medium.com/project-management-learnings/spotify- squad-framework-part-i-8f74bcfcd761 “ Rules are a good start, then break them ”

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@Brunty Sometimes you roll

a natural 20

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@Brunty And Sometimes you roll a natural 1

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@Brunty Be prepared

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@Brunty Use past

experience

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@Brunty

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@Brunty “ I cast fireball ”

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@Brunty The final hill

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@Brunty Exhaustion

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@Brunty “ The most important and productive thing you can do in software development is stop, go home, do something else for a while, and get a good night's sleep. ” –Larry Garfield 
 https://twitter.com/Crell/status/1015690625155510274

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@Brunty –Larry Garfield 
 https://twitter.com/Crell/status/1015690625155510274 “ That will yield more improvement than all your fancy processes and agiles and death marches (sorry, “crunch time”). ”

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@Brunty Reaching your goal

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@Brunty Victory & Reward

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@Brunty In summary • Hire smart people and get out of their way

• Look for balance in your team, both in skills, and alignment

• A little planning goes a long way

• Check-in regularly, keep everyone on the right path

• You always have choices

• Start with rules, then break them

• Use past experience

• Wizards have their place $

• Reflect after the task is complete

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@Brunty Thank you

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@Brunty #wizard #fireball #dungeonsanddragons #wizardsoverlizards

#agileandfragile #killthattroll

#alwaysspaceforawizard