Red Squirrel Reflections Dave Hoover explores the psychology of software development

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Converging on a Not-Knowing Stance
Saturday, July 31, 2004

"The greatest risk we face in software development is that of overestimating our own knowledge." --Jim Highsmith, Adaptive Software Development, p. 14

Back in my former life as a family therapist, I strove to apply the principles of narrative therapy with my clients. Ever since my first exposure to agile software development I felt it shared underlying philosophies with my chosen theory of family therapy. Every time I find evidence of this, I get all excited...

One of the foundations of a narrative (or collaborative) approach to therapy is the adoption of a not-knowing stance. Taking on this stance evokes an attitude of genuine curiosity and breaks down the hierarchical barriers that naturally exist between client and therapist. For more on this stance, read this, this, or this.

Here is a teaser from that last one:

"Assuming this not-knowing stance, collaborative practitioners invite multiple, contradictory voices into therapeutic conversations, which allows participants to generate and explore new perspectives and meanings together."

I've been quoting The Fifth Discipline like crazy over the last month. Although I've finished the book, I guess old habits are hard to break. Here is a quote that relates to the not-knowing stance:

"The facilitator always walks a careful line between being knowledgeable and helpful in the process at hand, and yet not taking on the 'expert' or 'doctor' mantle that would shift attention away from the members of the team, and their own ideas and responsibility. (246)

This applies directly to the work of the therapist and the consultant. We strive to be helpful without creating a dependency. We are conscious to encourage the client to be responsible for the problem we are helping them with. Taking on the mantle of an expert encourages dependency, while a not-knowing stance will lead to collaboration.

I finally started reading Adaptive Software Development by Jim Highsmith. When I read the following quote, it rang true with my experiences as a software developer. Just as in a therapeutic relationship, a not-knowing stance facilitates learning and collaboration within a software development team:

"At the core of our ability to succeed in extreme environments is the admission that we don't know it all, that we need to enrich our understanding through better attention to how we explore our world, to how we collaborate, to how we learn--in essence, to how we adapt as living systems." (14)

I actually had a foreshadowing of this idea back in 2002.

I think the not-knowing stance also ties into Steve McConnell's advice to assume it is your fault.

Replies: 1 Comment

>>"The greatest risk we face in software development is that of overestimating our own knowledge." --Jim Highsmith,

Really Great quote!
I think I'd better stick it on my monitor.

Posted by Michael on 08/23/2004

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