Agile Evolution and Academic Impreatives

© 2012 MindTree Limited Slide 1© 2012 MindTree Limited
Agile Evolution and Academic Imperatives
Raja Bavani, Chief Architect
MindTree Ltd.
Presented at Agile Goa 2012, 25-26 August 2012, Goa, India

© 2012 MindTree Limited Slide 2
● Results from Surveys
● Suggestions
● Force of Habit
● Four Stages of Learning
● The Seven Essentials
● The Virtuous Cycle
● Discussions
Agenda

Our Educational System is the 3rd Largest
Source: ‘Making the Indian Education System Future Ready, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry(FICCI) Higher Education Summit, 2009.
Universities: 450+ Colleges: 20,000+ Most Preferred Professional Course: Engineering

However, India’s education system is bogged down by the
fundamental challenges of access, equity and quality.
Challenges: Access, Equity, Quality

Access to Higher Education
(GER: Gross Enrolment Ratio)

Enrollments

Shortage of Faculty

Unfilled Faculty Positions

Global Ranking
Source: ‘Making the Indian Education System Future Ready, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry(FICCI) Higher Education Summit, 2009.

Education is Critical to India

Global Presence of Indian Professionals

Very Low Number of Researchers

Research Papers and Citations

Research Papers: Contributing Institutions

Patents from Top 10 Institutes

Patent Application in Higher Education Institutions

Challenges

● What is happening in the IT world?
● What do we produce?
● What is our role?
● How do we align ourselves?
● What can be done to improve the situation in short, medium and
long term basis?
Questions

Results from Agile Surveys

Agile Adoption

Adoption of Practices

State of Agile Development
Source: VersionOne, 5th Annual “State of Agile Development” Survey 2010”

Delivering Value to Stakeholders

Focus on Quality

● The complexity and challenges in IT profession is on the rise
● Employability of fresh graduates is an ongoing issue
● ‘Talent Management’ is critical to success
● Adoption of agile methods is on the rise
● Improving our focus on practices related to requirement analysis,
design, coding, refactoring, unit testing, continuous integration,
configuration / build / release management, test automation,
etc.,) is critical
● There is a grave need to strengthen industry-academia partnership
Takeaways

Suggestions

1. Learn Programming C (Do not teach in class room. Promote self-
learning. Solve programming exercises that involve significant
code (100+ lines each)).
2. Learn data structures through programming experience.
3. Do OO programming in Java and/or C++. Experience C before
learning Java or C++ or similar OO languages. Learn ‘Design
Principles’, ‘Programming Principles’, etc.
4. Use .Net, J2EE and similar frameworks. Experience Client-Server
Architecture instead of limiting yourself to standalone programs.
5. Learn web development. Use JavaScript, XML, SSL etc. Create a
website with adequate complexity.
6. Retire subjects that are not relevant for industry track or
research track. Merge or consolidate subjects that are relevant
but are not standalone candidates. Retain fundamental subjects.
7. Learn about Software Testing, Software Quality Assurance. Get
introduced to Performance Testing, Security Testing etc.,
Suggestions 1/2

8. Include DW/BI concepts in DBMS courses.
9. Include contemporary networking concepts (such Wi-Fi, VOIP) in
Computer Networking course.
10. Study website such as Amazon, eBay, Google, Railway/Airlines
Reservation Systems, etc to analyze and understand requirements
and designs.
11. Introduce case study based learning.
12. Carryout software maintenance projects by taking up projects
developed by other groups.
13. Develop viable products, prototypes and applications that do not
retire immediately after your coursework.
14. Use evolutionary software development methodologies such as
agile and lean methods.
15. Conduct software exhibitions to show case the applications or
products developed by groups of students.
Suggestions 2/2

Force of Habit

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then,
is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle
Spanish proverb: “Habits are first cobwebs, then
cables.”
Force of Habit

Four Stages of Learning

4
Unconscious
Competence
1
Unconscious
Incompetence
3
Conscious
Competence
2
Conscious
Incompetence

The Seven Essentials

1. Learn & Share
Learning is a lifelong process.
1. What should we learn?
2. How should we learn?
3. How can we learn to learn
faster?
4. Why should we learn to
share?
5. How important is unlearning
to us?
6. Why should we learn ‘value
skills’ in addition to technical
skills?

2. Experiment & Explore
1. Learn &
Share
When we develop the habit of
experimenting and exploring,
we get an opportunity to
validate – and sometimes refine
– our understanding of how
things work!
1. Why should we experiment
and explore?
2. What are the benefits of this
habit?
3. Do you think experimenting
and exploration can lead to
innovation?

3. Take the Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore
One can undertake very small
initiatives. Put together, the
impact of such initiatives can be
significant.
1. What does ‘taking the
initiative’ mean to you?
2. Can you name initiatives
that can improve results in
your project?
3. Do you need to be
aggressive in order to take
initiatives?

4. Practice Reuse
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore
Reuse can improve efficiency
and quality.
1. Do you think ‘reuse’ is
limited to component reuse?
2. How can you balance the
pursuit of reuse with
professional ethics?
3. How can you demonstrate
reuse in your project?
4. What are the barriers?

5. Value Quality
4. Practice
Reuse
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore
The need to value quality has
become highly significant for
21-st century IT professionals.
1. What is your definition of
quality?
2. How frequently and at what
instances do you deliver
quality? Why?
3. Why are the first 4 habits
important to value quality?

6. Synergize
4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore
Synergy is a result of creative
cooperation among
professionals.
1. How do you synergize with
your teams?
2. Why do IT professionals
need to synergize with
tools?
3. How can this help you
improve customer
satisfaction?

7. Radiate ‘Can-Do’ Attitude
4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
6. Synergize
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore
‘Can-Do’ attitude is contagious.
It motivates team members.
1. What is ‘Can-Do’ attitude?
2. When do you think ‘Can-Do’
attitude does yield results?
3. Why are the first 6 habits
are necessary to radiate
‘can-do’ attitude?

4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
6. Synergize
7. Radiate
“Can-Do”
Attitude
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore

Prepare
4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
6. Synergize
7. Radiate
“Can-Do”
Attitude
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore

Prepare
Act
4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
6. Synergize
7. Radiate
“Can-Do”
Attitude
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore

Prepare
Act
Collaborate
4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
6. Synergize
7. Radiate
“Can-Do”
Attitude
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore

Prepare
Act
Collaborate
Optimize
4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
6. Synergize
7. Radiate
“Can-Do”
Attitude
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore

Prepare
Act
Collaborate
Optimize
Influence
4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
6. Synergize
7. Radiate
“Can-Do”
Attitude
3. Take the
Initiative
1. Learn &
Share
2. Experiment
& Explore

The Virtuous Cycle

Prepare
Act
Optimize
Influence
The Virtuous Cycle
Collaborate
1. Learn & Share
2. Experiment &
Explore
3. Take the
Initiative
4. Practice
Reuse
5. Value
Quality
6. Synergize
7. Radiate
“Can-Do”
Attitude

1. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again and expecting different results.
2. Imagination is more important than Knowledge.
3. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
4. We can’t solve problems by using the same kind
of thinking we used when we created them.
(Quotes by Albert Einstein - Found on the Internet)
Points to Ponder!

“The individual who wants to reach the top in
business must appreciate the might of the force of
habit and must understand that practices are what
create habits.
He must be quick to break those habits that can
break him and hasten to adopt those practices
that will become the habits that help him achieve
the success he desires.”
– Getty J Paul
On Making and Breaking Habits

Discussions

1. Force of Habit: Seven Essentials for 21st-Century IT Professionals,
Cutter IT Journal, Volume 24, No.9, September 2011
http://mindtree.com/resource-center/thought-
posts/articles/force-habit-seven-essentials-21st-century-it-
professionals
2. Rethinking About Computer Science Curriculum – Long Overdue,
H.N.Mahabala, IIIT, Bangalore
http://www.csi-chennai.org/conseg09/pp-ed1.pdf
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