Tool Words, Weapon Words

Presenters: Emmanuel Gaillot & Christophe Thibaut
Type: workshop / case study
Duration: 90 minutes
Audience: The workshop will welcome anyone interested in exploring the meaning of specific "weapon words" in the field of software development, and in the context of promoting agility. In other (weapon) words, we expect an audience mostly composed of "agilists". Any level of experience is ok, though.

Objectives

Like many other fields, software development uses a specific jargon. Our IT jobs are filled with terms borrowed from industry and architecture, and other work cultures. We suspect the use of such words may not be just about describing what we do, but also about shaping the context in which we work and legitimating certain ideas as "natural" -- over more disturbing others. This session aims to re-examine the contexts in which people use such legitimation words, and eventually deconstruct their meaning in the hope to better understand what agendas they help to promote.

Abstract

Everyday in your job you hear about "architecture," "end of the project," "bugs," "quality," "costs reduction," "beta-testing." Sometimes you're lucky, you also hear about "team spirit." On the other hand, you're explicitely forbidden to mention the letters "XP" to your clients. This bugs you, maybe because you attach other values to such words -- but when you mention the importance of specific meanings for specific words, all you get is blank stares or snapping remarks. We, too. Yet, we believe the choice of using specific words instead of others isn't neutral. Such choices inform the listener about the speaker's willingness to place themselves in a specific context -- in which specific ways of thinking, specific lines of action seem natural and normal. As an "artist of change" and promoter of XP principles, one must be able to critically analyze such choices, and see how words become weapons, not just describing a situation but also actively excluding threatening options. Political-correctness is not enough to get others listen to what we have to say. It's not even useful. We want to revisit work cultures through a "paranoid reading", as Baudrillard puts it, and to disarm verbal weapons through their use in new provocative, creative ways.

Benefits of attending

The session will be an opportunity to the attendees to

look for words that shape work cultures in software development
find out implicit meanings of such words
re-construct and disarm their favourite weapon words
have fun

What will the organisers learn

Organizers expect to learn more about the (deconstructed) meaning of words that shape software development cultures. They also hope to spark an on-going critical analysis of the use of such words, and to meet individuals interested in such a project.

Session Outline

t0 ~ t0 + 10: presentations
t0 + 10 ~ t0 + 25: attendees describe situations in which they have encountered "weapon words"
t0 + 25 ~ t0 + 40: in small groups, attendees scrutinize weapon words, in terms of what they refer to, and what they refer NOT to.
t0 + 40 ~ t0 + 60: discussion - word definition as a process of exclusion, word use as a process of legitimation
t0 + 60 ~ t0 + 80: attendees invent ways of using weapon words to exhibit hidden meanings, hidden agendas -- verbally or not
t0 + 80 ~ t0 + 90: debrieffing, wrap-up and feedback