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@loriculberson
Last active August 29, 2015 14:18
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The Marshmallow Challenge and Effective Software Design
The Marshmallow Challenge and Effective Software Design
Review the design challenge experience
The Task - build a structure with specific materials
Teams of 4
Tallest structure with marshmallow on top
B. The Experience
Quick collaboration
2.“jocking for power”
Planning
Execution of the plan
“Tah-dah” the structure stands or “Oh no!” it crumbles under the weweight of the marshmallow
C. The Results of the Challenge - How certain groups fair in this experiment
1. Worst performers: Recent Business School graduates
why - they are competitive, spend time jocking for power, they look for the one RIGHT way to do it
2. Best performers: Recent graduates of kindergarten
why - good collaborators, they start with the marshmallow on top which allows them to build prototypes along the way and improve the design -- this is the nature of the Agile process
3. How other challengers fair: (display graph)
Architects/Engineers
Lawyers
CEOs
CEOs with an office administrator
4. When Money is the Prize - Incentives
participants fail miserably
When given a second chance to perform task again, they create taller structures faster because they understand the value of the agile process.
D. Waterfall vs Agile
Waterfall - is a linear approach to software development, where you move to a phase only when its preceding phase is completed and perfected. Phases ofdevelopment in the waterfall model are thus discrete, and there is no jumping back and forth or overlap between them.
Agile and why it is better - Agile assumes that the first idea is not necessarily the best and final one and that learning happens continuously throughout the process. It encourages a tight feedback loop to incorporate new knowledge, emerging requirements and innovative ideas even late in the process. Incrementing in addition to iterating towards a solution hugely increases the chances of success.
Tie how we learn at Turing to agile
@rwarbelow
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Outline looks good. Make sure you're ~5 minutes. It looks like it might be a little long.

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