RE: Re: Overstepping Qualifications [was: Practice: PairProgramming, Sex, etc]

William,

When I write a book about XP, I do represent XP. I accept responsibility
when I accept readers' money. When I talk on the web I am still accountable
for the things I say. People consider the source of material they read or
hear. I want to be a reliable source of useful information.

I try to take the task of communication seriously because I want to
communicate as clearly as I can. I want to speak clearly and directly from
my heart (a task that alas eludes me much of the time). I want to speak
about topics that I feel strongly about. I think that inappropriate
feelings, when they arise, are a serious problem for teams. I have seen it
happen often enough that I think I should write about it. The private
messages I've received about the topic confirm this observation.

Kent Beck
Three Rivers Institute

> -----Original Message-----
> From: William Pietri [mailto:william-JnOFOPmZhjNBDgjK7y7TUQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 9:55 PM
> To: xpbookdiscussiongroup-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [xpe2e] Re: Overstepping Qualifications [was:
> Practice: PairProgramming, Sex, etc]
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, Ron! I don't wish to deny you your right to say whatever pleases 
> you. And I certainly enjoy your posts, on topic and off. However, I am 
> compelled to contradict you on something.
> 
> On Fri, 2004-11-12 at 20:43 -0500, Ron Jeffries wrote:
> > I feel free to talk about whatever's on my mind. I don't
> speak for XP,
> > [...]
> 
> When you and Kent write in places like the Extreme Programming mailing 
> lists and the Extreme Programming books, you are seen by many as 
> speaking for XP, or at least authoritatively about it. I imagine that 
> having ex cathedra powers is not something that you entirely enjoy, 
> but I think you have them, especially for people outside the 
> community.
> 
> And I think that's why we're taking these paragraphs more seriously 
> than we would if they were written by somebody else or somewhere else. 
> Personally, having met and corresponded with you guys for years, I can 
> generally separate the personal opinions from the official ones. 
> (Although not always; I'm still wondering whether sexual harassment is 
> a bigger problem on XP teams than others, as I inferred from this
> section.)
> 
> Others, however, will read this as Kent Beck, the Father of Extreme 
> Programming, saying in the One True XP Book that sexual attraction is 
> a relatively serious problem when pairing, at least for heterosexuals. 
> Now that may be accurate, and regardless, as you point out, it's 
> Kent's book to write. But for those of us who work in the penumbra of 
> his power, what he writes is of concern.
> 
> William
> 
> 
> --
> William Pietri <william-JnOFOPmZhjNBDgjK7y7TUQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> 
> 
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