A presentation at Voxxed Days CERN in in Geneva, Switzerland by Holly Cummins
Austin A Software Developer’s Guide to FUN in the workplace Copenhagen Dubai London Madrid Melbourne Munich Holly Cummins IBM Cloud Garage @holly_cummins Martijn Verburg @karianna New York Nice Raleigh San Francisco São Paulo Singapore Tokyo
I’m from IBM’s Cloud Garage.
I’m from IBM’s Cloud Garage. (we are opening in Milan, by the way …)
Is this a fun talk?
Is this a fun talk? No. It’s a talk about fun.
Is this a fun talk? No. It’s a talk about fun. That’s different.
Is this a fun talk? No. It’s a talk about fun. That’s different. Obviously.
10 step plan to achieve FUN. 1. Quantify and Qualify your FUN metrics 2. Create a Chief FUN Officer (CFO) role 3. Gamify your daily tasks to make them more FUN 4. Enthusiastically high five everyone each morning for FUN 5. Install a FUN ball pit 6. Inject a FUN word of the day into conversations 7. Wear FUN clothing, something with flair 8. Create FUN certificates with gold star systems - relive the fun of kindergarten! 9. Nominate FUN assessors for each team 10.Laugh Out Loud (LOL) once a day in the office, others will enjoy your FUN @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Let’s talk about your career.
“Dear boss, you need to send me to Voxxed CERN so I can go to the session on…. FUN.” @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
“Dear boss, you need to send me to Voxxed CERN so I can go to the session on…. FUN.” @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Are you brave enough? , Having fun at work @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Are you brave enough? I’m not :) @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Wait. Where’s “fun-loving”?
Wait. Where’s “fun-loving”? We keep fun a secret.
What is Fun?
A Fun Guy. (Remember, fun means jokes.)
Fun
Fun
There is lots of research on fun.
“Fun is a point on the intersection of engagement levels and social interaction for a given activity.” Fun: An Exploration in its Relevance to Interaction Design - Elise Woolley, 2010
Aside: When is fun not-fun?
Aside: When is fun not-fun? When it’s your job.
How do you measure fun? Excerpted from Elise M. Woolley, B.S., Fun: An Exploration in its Relevance to Interaction Design
That was called the Funtinuum.
That was called the Funtinuum. If you remember just one thing from this talk …
Exploration focussed investigation
Play flexible for its own sake Exploration focussed investigation
Play flexible for its own sake Exploration focussed investigation Puzzle a goal and rules
Games a winner and rules Play flexible for its own sake Exploration focussed investigation Puzzle a goal and rules
Games a winner and rules Work a goal Play flexible for its own sake Exploration focussed investigation Puzzle a goal and rules
Exploration Photo by Linearahandmade@etsy
Puzzle Photo by William Warby
Play
Game
Work
Positive affect
It feels good
Programming is fun.
Programming gives pleasure to both types of thinkers: • Creative • Logical
We get to control stuff when we program.
Exploration Photo by Linearahandmade@etsy
Hello, World Exploration Photo by Linearahandmade@etsy
Puzzle Photo by William Warby
Exception in thread “main” java.lang.NullPointerException: WhyWhyWhyIsThisHappeningNullPointerException at StackTraceExample.method111(StackTraceExample.java:15) at StackTraceExample.method11(StackTraceExample.java:11) at StackTraceExample.method1(StackTraceExample.java:7) at StackTraceExample.main(StackTraceExample.java:3) Puzzle Photo by William Warby
Game
Game
Katie Bouman, discovering that her algorithm for imaging black holes worked.
Katie Bouman, discovering that her algorithm for imaging black holes worked. It feels good
Why are most of our workplaces Not Fun?
The 1980/90’s Management Model Very hierarchical Control favoured over autonomy Technology seen as a cost centre
http://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk
Puritan confronts ale drinkers Howard Pyle
Jean Calvin
Jean Calvin (… not an advocate of fun)
the value of fun in the workplace
piglet litters grow faster if they play more
IBM Watson IoT Centre, Munich @holly_cummins
IBM IoT Lab, Munich
@holly_cummins
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” — Aristotle
Research shows: Fun is good for business.
Research shows: Fun is good for business.
Studies have shown… Employee fun
Studies have shown… Employee fun
Studies have shown… Less sick leave Employee fun
Studies have shown… Less sick leave Employee fun Harder working
Studies have shown… Less sick leave Employee fun Harder working More productivity
https://hbr.org/2012/01/positive-intelligence
“Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. ” https://hbr.org/2012/01/positive-intelligence
https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/eproto/workingpapers/happinessproductivity.pdf
“Individuals [who just watched a comedy video] have approximately 12% greater productivity.” https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/eproto/workingpapers/happinessproductivity.pdf
Your brain needs breaks. @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Breaks with exercise are even better @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Practical example: Everyone loves lego trains.
Info Support funded their employees’ lego trains.
Why? Good business. Thanks, @johanjanssen42!
How much fun can you expect to have? https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulesson/3065570366
How much fun can you expect to have? (Yes, this is a picture of lots of fungi. You’re welcome.) https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulesson/3065570366
• No one likes working on things that aren’t valuable or useful. • So if you take that to its extreme, and only do activities if they’re fun and enjoyable, will that work? • Limits to Fun Self-discipline is still needed.
Just because it’s fun, doesn’t mean it’s good.
Just because it’s fun, doesn’t mean it’s good.
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning …. smells like victory.” Bill Kilgore, Apocalypse Now
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning …. smells like victory.” Bill Kilgore, Apocalypse Now Is everyone having fun?
Fun. What could possibly go wrong?
Fun. What could possibly go wrong?
Fun. What could possibly go wrong? 2008: A developer had a lot of fun with Groovy.
Fun. What could possibly go wrong? 2008: A developer had a lot of fun with Groovy.
Fun. What could possibly go wrong? 2008: A developer had a lot of fun with Groovy. 2009: The others who had to maintain the code had less fun.
Enjoy fun. Responsibly.
_ How to achieve fun Warning: This is our context and our experience of Fun. Your workplace culture may be different.
Step 1. Find un-fun things. Get rid of them.
Step 0. Stop prohibiting fun. Obviously.
“Please stop sending emails telling people you are sharing cake.”
“If you’re in the office after 5:30, you need to be doing work.”
“Why are you smiling? Work isn’t a place to be happy!” - a prowling project manager
Step 1. Find un-fun things. Get rid of them.
A process being unfun is a red flag that it’s not adding value.
Step 1. Find un-fun things. Get rid of them. … because they’re probably waste.
@holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
@holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Get rid of the stuff that stops us doing what we enjoy. @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Get rid of the stuff that stops us doing what we enjoy. “We’re short staffed. You’re going to need to cancel all my meetings for a month so I can do programming.” @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Get rid of the stuff that stops us doing what we enjoy. This worked! “We’re short staffed. You’re going to need to cancel all my meetings for a month so I can do programming.” @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Interactions are fun. Interruptions are not.
Protect your coding time from meetings. “I’m sorry, since I’m pairprogramming, I can’t make that meeting.”
Pair programming
#noestimates Estimates are rarely accurate. Why bother?? @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Prototyping versus hardening Can adding logging ever be fun? @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Prototyping versus hardening Can adding logging ever be fun? Making a difference is fun. @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Prototyping versus hardening Can adding logging ever be fun? Making a difference is fun. Having a prototype become real is fun. @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Prototyping versus hardening Can adding logging ever be fun? Making a difference is fun. Having a prototype become real is fun. Add the logging when you know it actually matters. @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
” W e d o n’ t w a n t t o b e t h e prototyping department.” — Head of Innovation, A-Client @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Testing should not be part of the hardening phase. TDD is fun. @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
TDD
TDD
Automation Computers don’t expect to have fun (yet). Let them do the tedious tasks. Bonus: Automating stuff is fun (yay!).
Status for all to see. @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
Status for all to see. Keep stories small, so status is self-reporting. Daily stand-up. Keep it short. @holly_cummins http://ibm.biz/bluemixgaragelondon /* Discover. Collaborate. Deploy. */ @karianna
We all hate being told what to do. Usually, because we know it’s wrong. Let people make their own decisions.
Step 2: Add fun
TDD
Build gamification
Build gamification (Strictly speaking, productization of build gamification)
Build gamification can be pretty serious.
1 free lunch ➡ thousands of issues fixed
remember, you get what you measure
risks of gamification • you may not be able to fool users indefinitely • it can start to feel an awful lot like work
risks of gamification • you may not be able to fool users indefinitely • it can start to feel an awful lot like work
FINDING HAPPINESS IN PATENT INFORMATION DATABASES
Play
Children learn through play. Adults do too.
Quirkiness
Images: shawcomputing.net, computerhistory.org
Images: shawcomputing.net, computerhistory.org
Images: shawcomputing.net, computerhistory.org
“Is ‘Gullible’ in the Dictionary?” Images: shawcomputing.net, computerhistory.org
Quirkiness How do a production-train slack-integration nicely:
Feedback matters.
_ Failing at Fun
What if you got paid to do something other people would pay to do?
No, not the best job in the world.
31% of us dislike teambuilding activities. http://www.successfulmeetings.com/Strategy/Meeting-Strategies/When-Teambuilding-Fails/
How do you know you’re having fun if you’re not measuring it?
How to ruin an office party? Take attendance.
Failing at Fun Forgetting to fix the other stuff.
A layer of fun
A layer of fun … on top of a terrible workspace …
A layer of fun … on top of a terrible workspace … is still terrible.
_
_ Fun is important. Recap on achieving fun: 1. Get rid of un-fun things 2. Add fun things Doing 2. without 1. is going to fail.
Austin Copenhagen Dubai London Madrid Questions? Melbourne Munich New York Holly Cummins IBM Cloud Garage @holly_cummins Nice Raleigh San Francisco São Paulo Singapore Tokyo Toronto
An in-depth look at what makes software development a roller coaster where the highs of 0 compiler warnings are quickly cancelled out by the pain of long hours, bad requirements, endless configuration, clueless managers and a plethora of other issues which make death by a thousand cuts seem like a good idea…. They will answer questions such as: “Why is programming often called an art despite having its underpinnings in formal logic?” “How can I rediscover the delight I felt when I first started coding?” “What’s that rush I feel when my test passes? Am I addicted to TDD?” Combining Psychology, Philosophy and Computer Science, Dr Holly Cummins and Martijn Verburg will present a series of practical tips to help you rediscover the euphoria that you felt the very first time a metal box in front of you came to life and cried out “Hello World”.
The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.
for free. You
can too.