Adventures in Promiscuous Pairing: Seeking Beginner's Mind

Abstract

One of the core principles behind the Agile Manifesto is that of working at a sustainable pace over time. Having gone through the roller coaster of traditional software development approaches, this would be a welcome change. In the first three months of our project, however, we found ourselves unable to break the habit of burning ourselves out as each milestone approached. In an attempt to maintain working at a sustainable pace, we chose to experiment with the principles documented by Arlo Belshee in his paper "Promiscuous Pairing and Beginner’s Mind: Embrace Inexperience". We thought seeking Beginner’s Mind was the solution. What ensued was not what any of us expected. This paper is a snapshot in time, encompassing the month after the team returned from the Agile 2005 conference. This is our story and learnings.