I was reading Peter Coffee’s latest eWeek column, “The Boss Wants Us All to Get Agile” (November 6, 2006). I love to read what Peter has to say. I should also mention that Peter has been a past keynote speaker at our annual developer conference. At the Developer Tools Group we believe strongly in being Agile. The JBuilder, C++, and Delphi teams all use the SCRUM agile method for product development. Microsoft also lauds the use of SCRUM in their software projects. It wasn’t the column or the topic that really caught my eye, it was Peter’s use of the phrase, “software development meme”, and even more particularly the use of the word “meme“ that got me thinking.
Meme, a word coined by Richard Dawkins, a British ethologist, evolutionary theorist, and popular science writer, is defined in WikiPedia as “a unit of cultural information transferable from one mind to another“. What a great word. It even has its own “MemeCentral” web site. Searching the Internet, I found out that there are Memeplexes (meme complexes) and Memetics (the study of memes), an essay titled “Meme Storage in DNA”, a Tim O’Reilly article “Remaking the Peer to Peer Meme“, and a blog entry titled “Memes that need to die”.
Yes, a great phrase, Peter, “Software development meme“. It’s a great phrase for software developers (programmers) to describe the everyday sharing of best practices, transferring tribal coding knowledge, “learning the ropes“, and our love of communicating and networking with each other at the developer’s coffee pot.
I celebrate the meme, worship the meme, love the meme! Especially the software development meme.
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I think "meme" is a bit grand for this sort of thing. I think in this case "fad" may be much more appropriate. Or even "lame excuse" as in "I can’t program well but I’d thrive in an agile environment."
Of course anything has to be better than some of the alternatives we’ve lived with, which have the feel of Soviet-style Central Planning. Typically with analogs to political officers, identity papers and travel permits, and everything else. Even a sort of KGB (spelled PMO in many organizations).
Thanx for the links Sr.. i’ll start reading about this SCRUM…
Bonito Palabro that "Meme" =:-)
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