Crossover with Mob Mentailty Part 2
In this deep-dive continuation with Mob Mentality Show hosts Austin Chadwick and Chris Lucian, we explore the practical implementation of mob programming in embedded and IoT environments. The discussion covers how collaborative programming extends beyond pure software development to include firmware engineers, hardware teams, and DevOps specialists working together in real-time. Key insights include strategies for managing cross-disciplinary collaboration, overcoming organizational resistance, and maintaining continuous delivery pipelines in hardware-constrained environments. The conversation reveals how mob programming can dramatically reduce feedback loops and eliminate the traditional handoff delays between embedded system components, leading to multiple daily production deployments even in IoT contexts."+y
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Show Notes
Key Topics
- [05:30] Cross-disciplinary mobbing with firmware and hardware engineers in IoT development
- [12:45] Addressing efficiency objections: Local vs global optimization in embedded teams
- [18:20] DevOps collaboration patterns and reducing friction between software and infrastructure teams
- [25:10] Selling mob programming to management: Building trust through continuous delivery
- [35:40] Dynamic team composition and the law of personal mobility in technical teams
- [42:15] Coordinating mob teams with waterfall processes and hardware gate systems
- [48:30] Automated firmware protocol documentation and testing infrastructure
Notable Quotes
"When you initially hear about mobbing, you think everybody's inactive, but there's a lot of excess thought capacity around programming that can happen - somebody can be thinking about refactorings while others are typing the solution." — Chris Lucian
"If you're all there, that whole feedback loop can happen in 15 minutes as opposed to 15 days. It's like technical debt - you pay now or pay later, and if you pay later, it's going to be more expensive." — Austin Chadwick
"We tend to have multiple releases a day all the way to production. Most mobs will deliver to production at least twice a day - four hours of work and then deliver to prod." — Chris Lucian
Resources Mentioned
- Mob Mentality Show - Podcast dedicated to mob programming practices and extreme programming techniques
- Kent Beck's Test-Driven Development Book - Foundational resource for understanding true TDD practices in embedded development
- Amy Edmondson's Teaming Book - Framework for understanding high uncertainty and high interdependence scenarios in technical teams
- Liminal Thinking - Mental framework for breaking through belief-based barriers in agile transformation
You can find Jeff at https://jeffgable.com.
You can find Luca at https://luca.engineer.
Want to join the agile Embedded Slack? Click here
Are you looking for embedded-focused trainings? Head to https://agileembedded.academy/
Ryan Torvik and Luca have started the Embedded AI podcast, check it out at https://embeddedaipodcast.com/