1 Squirrels are some of the best accidental developers in ... · 1 Squirrels are some of the best accidental developers in the world. Squirrels develop forests! If only they could

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2ThatsongwhichIjustplayediscalled▶“Begrüßung”,whichmeans“Welcome”inGerman.Itistypicallyplayedatthebeginningofahunttowelcomeallhunters.

WewelcomeyoutodaytoourHuntforbetterwaystosharelocalizedknowledgewithinourworkteams.

▶ SOUND Speakingofhunts,recentlyIfoundmyselfdeep inaforest,▶ SOUND surroundedbyafamilyofsquirrelscalleda“scurry”.

AsIlookedupatallthetreesIrealizedthat…

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1Squirrelsaresomeofthebestaccidentaldevelopersintheworld.Squirrelsdevelopforests!

Ifonlytheycouldrememberwheretheyputtheirbuildingmaterials…

�AsthislittleguychewedonmybootshetoldmehisstoryaboutSquirrelWorks.

Ithinkthereareafewthingsthatweallmightlearnfromhim...

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ThingswerechaoticatSquirrelWorks!The developersscrambledfuriouslytodelivertheirnextproducts.Manyshooktheirheadsandtailswonderinghowthey’devermeettheirschedules.

AsatSquirrelWorks,themostexpensivepartofoursoftwaredevelopmentisthecostofdevelopers!Oftenenough,littleisinvestedinhelpinguslearnalltheproprietarythingsweneedtobeproductive.

Asaresultwetoofeelthecrunchtodeliver.

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Thedevelopingforesthadchanged asaresultofdownsizingseasonedsquirrels.Asitsinhabitantsrebuilt, therewasfiercecompetitionforscarceresources.Theownersoftheforestexpectedbusinesstogoonasusual.

Haveyoueverbeenfrustratedarrivingintosuchateam?Youworkedhardtokeepup.Buttherapidlychangingsystemsandneedtoabsorbtribalknowledgeslowedyourmomentum.

Perhapsyoualsoweremotivatedtohuntforbetterwaystolearn.

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Despitethis,therewasmuchanticipation intheSquirrelWorksscurry.

Poppywasbusy finishingupanewRESTfulinterfacebutexcitedandanxiousasheawaitedthenews…

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It'saSquirrel!WhataproudPoppy!Everybody,meetZippy!

Newkitswerebornseveraltimesayear.Eachtime,thescurrywasunprepared!

LikeBabykits,newdevelopersonourteamsaresomewhatInnocentandimpressionable...andweneverseemtoknowwhentheywillarrive!

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1Zippy,likeallnewkits,reliedheavilyonthescurryforcareandfeeding.Heconsumedthealreadyscarceacornsatarapidpace,justlikedevelopersgrabeverypreciousfacttheycan!

Thiswasabigtimedrainontheoldersquirrels,Especiallyconsideringthatthereweremorekitstocomewitheachlitter.

AsZippygrew▶ hebecameabitmoreself-reliant.Itwouldn’tbetoolongbeforeZippywouldbeexpectedtofollowinPoppy’sfootsteps@Squirrelworks.

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1 ZippysoonlearnedthatAcornsweremorethanjustfood.Acornsarepowerfulnuggetsofinformation.▶Theycanbeanimmediatesnackorplantedtogrowstrongtreesthatproduceevenmoreacorns.

Inthesameway,ourdevelopmentknowledgecanbeplantedAndgrownintolearninghomes,whichproduceabundantAcornstofeedthesquirrelliestofdevelopers.

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Squirrel’steethneverstopgrowing.Theymustcuttheirteethonacornstostayhealthy.

Likedevelopers,bynatureSquirrelsareconstantlycravingsomethingtocuttheirteethonorthey’llgocrazy!

Asdevelopers,cuttingourteethhelpsustomasterourcraftandbeself-reliant!

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Somethingsarewellknownbyallscurries,butasZippygrowsandasksquestionsspecifictohisworld…Hediscoversthattheseacornsaren’tsoeasytofind!

AsDevelopersweneedsimilaracornsofknowledgetodoourwork.Sometimes, likeZippy,wedon’tknowwhomtoaskforhelp.

AUDIENCE:Curious,whatkindsofacornsareyoutypicallylookingforinyourownforest?

I’vebeenonhuntsfor:Howthingsworkintheapplicationdomain…ElusivearchitecturediagramsCodingstandards,releasesteps,

thelistgoeson.

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Zippywatchedtheoldersquirrelsbury theiracornsinallkindsofstrangeplaces.

Theirintentionsweregoodinstoringthem…buttheseplacesaren’tconducivetotheirpurpose!

AUDIENCE:Whichplacesareyourteamsusingtostoreinformation?• email,• SharePoint• GoogleDrive• Jive,• WikisHowarethoseworkingoutforyou?

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1HowlongdoyouthinkittakesZippytofindhisAcornanswerhere?I’llsaveyouandZippysometime. ▶ZippyhuntedforacornsinEmail,whichtended tobeapopular Squirrelwayofsharingknowledge.

Howmanytimeshaveyoureceivedanemailcontainingananswer,yetdon'trememberwhereyouputit?

Howmanytimeswereyousure yousentananswertosomeoneelse,yetcouldn’tfinditwhentheyaskaboutit?

Zippyrealizedhowquicklytheseanswersbecameobsoleteaswell…

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1OnedayZippyspentanhourhuntingforanacorn.

Whenhefoundone,hespentanother30minutescrackingitopen…onlytofindanastyweevil!Acornweevilsburrowintoacornsandeattheinsides.▶Therewasn’tanythingusefulleft.Thisactuallyhappenedtohimalot…wastinghistimeandenergy.

Timeandconstantenvironmentchangeseatawayatinformationlikeaweevil.

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Frustrated,Zippythoughthe’daskothersquirrelsforhelp.Zippy’sfirstsearchforhelpingettingacornswasunfortunate.

Hequickly foundsomesquirrelswillfighttodeathovertheirterritory.Zippywasscaredtoapproachtheseguysandcouldnevertakeadvantageofanyusefulacornstheymighthave.

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Knowanysquirrelswithbigheads?

Zippyfoundsomesquirrelswhoonlysharedifitimprovedtheirprowessamongsttheothers.

Unfortunatelytheydon'trealizethatsharingtheirprizedacornswithEVERYONEwouldgreatlyboosttheirstanding!

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1FinallyZippywent toseekthemostseniorsquirrel,butshewasalwaystoobusyandhardtofind▶Evenwhenshewasactuallyavailable.

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4SometimesZippy gotanswersthatdidn’thelphimatall.▶▶These arereallifeexamplesofInternal Acornyms…▶ jargon…▶ shoptalk.

Thesearetechnicallyacornsworth keeping…butthey’redisguised intermsthatnoteveryoneunderstands…especiallybabysquirrels!

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AfteralmostseeinghismentorinaclosecallwithaLamborghini....

Zippywasamazedathowmuchthescurryreliedonthesemethodsofsharingacorns.

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Everysquirrelneedstofeelcompetent.Zippywasnoexception.

Sometimesthegapbetweenhereandthereseemedimpossible.

Thegapb/wwhatyouknowandwhatyouneedtoknowistoowide.Itfeelslikeyouneverwillbeabletogettotheotherside…

Asquirrel(ordeveloper)shouldn’thavetofillthegapwiththemselves.

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Zippyfeltleftoutinadesertofincompetenceandwastewithnowateroracornstosustainhimself.

Smalleffortsfeltmomentous.Hisworkwasmoreexpensive.

Ittooklongertofinishbecausehespentsomuchtimeandenergylookingforwhatheneeded.

Somebodyhelp!!

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Frustrated, Zippywantedtofindabetterway…hewantedtohelpandmakethingseasierforhisscurry.

Hedecidedtotakeawalktoclearhisheadandthinkaboutthings.

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Onhiswalk,ZippymetaContractorsquirrelnamedRockywhowasfromafarawayscurry.

Astheytalkedaboutwheretheywerefrom,Zippyconfidedhistroublestohisnewfriend.

RockywasveryexcitedtotellZippythattheyoncehadthesameproblems,butnotanymore!

“Comewithme”Rockysaid,“Iwanttointroduceyoutosomeone!”

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1RockyintroducedZippytoOctocat.

Octocattaughthimaboutabetterwaytostoreandmanageacornanswers.

AUDIENCE:doesanyoneknowthiscat?Ahyesthenyoumightknowsomeofourstory

Butyoumightalsoknowhim as▶…

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6"OctobiWanCatnobi".

“Zippy,YouneedtofollowthepathtoGitHub.▶

GitHubprovidesaplacetostoreandmanageacorncontentusingthesameprocesswhichhumansuseforbuildingsoftware.

Bycreating▶ contentusingthelightweight▶ Markdownlanguageandstoringitina▶ Repository,

▶ JekylltransformstheseAnswerAcornsintoan▶ htmlforestof▶ beautifullearningtrees

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2Zippy:TheGitHubPath?

“YesZippy,YouneedtofollowthepathtoGitHub.

Ihaveaneasywayforyoutoremember:If youdothesethingsyouandyourteamswill▶ bemore▶ PRODUCTIVE!

Zippyfollowmecloselyaswebeginourjourney.

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5 10 ▶TheProcessforgettingcontentintoGitHub is easy.

First▶setup aRepositoryand▶Forkyourowncopy.Then▶create contentinMarkdown.▶ Commit into your Fork.▶ Create a Pull Request.

▶▶ Peerreviewdifferencesand ▶ communicateyourideas.

Onceeveryoneagreesthatthechangesaregood▶mergethemintotheRepository.

Thisprocessisstrongoncommunicatingandreviewingcontent!

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• 5▶ WhyuseMarkdown?• ▶ Freesyoutofocusoncontentinsteadofhtml.• ▶ Formatcanbeeasilycompared.• ▶ Historicalrecordshowsyouallchangesmade!• ▶ Lintcontenttoensureeverythingisintherightplace.

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4 5Markdown:

▶ forstructuringcontent:likeHeaders,whichcanbeusedtobuildaTOC▶ ListsTables

forBasics–▶ Bold,Italics,Underline,Strikethrough,emojisLinksandImages

▶ SyntaxHighlightingforpresentingsourcecode

▶ Fireballsite

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PAUSE“Whoops,sorryZippy,Octocathasbeenhelpingapackofhuntingdogsandincludedthewrongslide.”

“Anyways,puttingallofthisstuffintoarepositoryisn’thelpfulunlesstheacornsareRetrievableoncetheygointotheforest.

Youwantamechanismforallowingsquirrelstobeabletofindtheacornthattheyneedquickly.”

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2“Byadding▶ informationcalled“FrontMatter”tothefrontofeachAcorn’sMarkdown,youcanuseittohelpwithsearches.

JekyllandGitHubPagesuseFrontMattertobuildasmartindexforsearch.”

ThisdatacancontainTitle,Tagsoranythingasquirrelmightwanttoadd.

▶ Thesearchindexbuilderisconfiguredtousethesefields.

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Zippycomplained abouthavingtolookeverywhereforacornsstoredwilly-nilly.

GitHubhelpswiththatbykeepingeverythinginOnePlace.

Hereacornswillgrowintoaforestofbigoaksforyourscurrymemberstoliveandthrive.

Whereyouplantandmaintainyouracornsimpactsfuturegrowthandbenefitseveryonedowntheline.

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Zippy,itisveryimportanttoremember!

Make surethatyoudon’taddacornsthatarealreadyintheforest.Itisimportantforyourcontenttobeunique!!!

Ifsomethingalreadyexists,enhanceit!

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Themosteffectivecontentwillbesimpleandeasytoread.Thishasalottodowithwritingstyleanddiscipline.

Keepthingsshortandcomprehensive…ifyourtopicisgettingtoolong,breakitdownintoitssmallestcomponents.

Thisistheartofworkingbottomuptocreatethesimplest,readablecontent!

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1 Zippystartedtowalkaheadandexclaimed:“SurelythisisstraightforwardsofarMaster,itevenlookseasy!”

Octocatlookedbackindisbelief:“Thereisstillmuchtolearnyoungone.”▶ “CultureChangewillbeadifficult,butnecessaryandveryimportantpartofmakingthiswholethingwork.”“Changingmindsandheartstodifferentwaystakesotherskillswhichyouwilllearn.”“Keepcommunicating.”“Getothersinvolved.Everyoneownstheacorns.”

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1“Therearemany acornstogatherandarrange.Thismightbeoverwhelming!Sometimesithelpstoimaginealltheacornsintheforestandhowtheyfittogether.”

“Ifthisseemstoohard,envisionyourselfinthetallesttree,onthehighestlimb.Lookfromthetopdownandarrangealltheacornsinyourmindaccordingtowhichtreebranchestheyreallybelongto.▶“ThenusenamingtoidentifyandorderallyouracornsintoaTaxonomywhichstructuresyourforest.

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3▶ GitHub createsaPagessiteforeveryrepositoryandfork.▶ Jekyllisalwaysrunningand▶processingmodifiedMarkdownfilesintoviewablepages.Yoursitewillbecurrentwithnewcommitsfromanyone.Incrementalchangeswillonlyrebuildwhatisnecessary.

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3 “Onceyou’vemasteredcreatingand committingyourcontentacornsusingMarkdownandGitHub,thereismoreInstrumentationtoexplore!

You can setup and run your own▶ local Jekyll server.

Then use your favorite▶ IDE as an authoring system alongside your local Jekyll server.Each IDE can be enhancedwith feature-rich▶ Markdown plugins.

This setup is nice for writing and testing if you’rewithout internetaccess.

Youwillnoticeyourserverstartuptimeincreasewiththeamountofcontentandprocessingwhichyouadd.

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2 Beyond Markdown, there is much more to use in creating anawesome Jekyll site.

Jekyll is built upon▶ Ruby, and luckily you can runwithouta religious conversion.Ruby functionality is packaged in Gems.

Github provides a▶ GitHubPagesGemwhich packages all Jekyll dependencies.

By adding this GitHubPagesGem to your local environment,you keep currentwith the Jekyll productas it evolves!

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4 The GitHub iPages Gem provides access to more gems which add functionality toJekyll.▶The Shopify Liquid gem gives you programming power to build content on yourpages. Examples include content hierarchy, table of contents and page to pagenavigation sections for each page.▶The jekyll-coffeescript gemlets youwrite Javascriptmoreelegantly.▶The sass gem allows you to style your site elements, tables and images moreconcisely.▶The Rouge gem provides beautiful syntax highlighting for your code snippets whichyou can style with sass.▶The minima gem provides Jekyll’s default theme, which you can customize to yourneeds. Included inminima is Disqus support for comments andGoogleAnalytics.

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4▶ WithJekyllandyourowncreativityyoucanrenderstunningpagesthatcontain:

▶ aHierarchy,▶ AspeedysearchindexfromyourFrontMatter,▶ aTableofContentsforeverytopicheader

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5Zippy’s eyeswidened.“ThatlookssoamazingandeasyOctocat,everyonewillwanttousethis!!!”

Octocatsighed:“Maybeso,butanysquirrelcanusethesetoolsto�addacornsofLOWValue.”

“Squirrelscanbelazyandblindtowhattheyalreadyknow.ThisiscalledtheCurseOf�Know�ledge.Theythinkthatothers� alreadyknowwhattheyknow.”

Howmanytimeshaveyoureadsomethingorhadsomethingexplainedtoyouasthoughitwerethemostobvious� thingintheworld…onlytobeleftmoreconfusedthanbefore?

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Alittlecontextgoesalongway!

Zippyasked:Whatiscontext?

Octocatstretchedouthisarmstoshowthat:“ContextfillsthegapbetweenwhatYOUKNOWandwhatothersquirrelsmayNOTYETKNOW.

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2 Squirrelsarecontenttoaddthe▶ “HOW”partbutoftenleaveoutthemostimportantpart:Context!

“ThisislikefindingonlyanacornCapandcallingitanAcorn.YetitisnotacompleteAcorn!”

▶ “What,Why,When,Where,Who”arejustasimportantas“How”andprovidecontext.

Simplyaddinganacorndoesn’tmeanthatthejobisdone.

Wehavetogenerateacornsthatothersquirrelscanactuallyconsume.ContexthelpscreatecompleteacornsoftrueValue.”

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8Zippyjoggedaheadagain:“Master,IthinkthatIamready.”

Octocatremainedmotionless.“Thereisonemorelessonwhichyoustillmustlearn!

Don’tletyouracornsrotandkeepyourforestpruned.YourcontentandtoolsneedtoEVOLVEwiththeorganization.

Herearesomethingswhichyoumightwanttoconsiderevolving…

▶Viewership- knowandengageyouraudience▶Content- findeasierwaystoaddexistingcontent;▶explorenewsourcesand▶betterwaystowork▶Quality- findwaystoimprovethequalityofcontentand▶Efficiency- maketheprocessingmoreefficient.▶Repositories- youwillfindotherrepositories…keepinfointherightplace,bringitallin.▶ reference

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1We'vejustcoveredsomereallyimportantlessonsZippy.Welearnedthat...

VISITEACHONE

Finally,Octocatsmiled:“Ifyoufollowtheselessons,youwillbe PRODUCTIVE!”

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Zippyreturnedtohisscurry,veryexcited tosharehisnewideas!

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Everyoneelseseemedskeptical…afterall,they’dalwaysdonethingsthesameway.

Tribalownershipwasaverystrongforcetoovercome.

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1ButZippypersisted,rememberingwhatOctocathadtaughthim.

Hewantedtocreatealearningforestandcallit▶ “SquirrelUniversity”.

Slowlybutsurely,hestartedworkingthroughthebarriers.

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First,Zippymadeitapointtogetmanagement’sbacking.With theirhelpandsupport…thetransitionwouldbemucheasier.

Dependingonyourmanagementtypes,thiscouldbeyourbiggestchallenge.Hopefullyitismucheasierthanthis!

AUDIENCE:Would thisbesupportedforyourteams?

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Aftergaininghismanager ’ssupport,Zippyaddedhisnew learningsintotheirprocess.

Zippyandhismanagersmade thesechangesofficialandbroadlycommunicatedtheexpectationstothescurry.

Nolongercouldscurrymemberscontinuetodothingsthewaytheyalwayshad.

NowwhenthingschangedduringaSquirrelSprint,TeammemberswererequiredtoupdatethoseacornsinSquirrelU.

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Zippyknewthathecouldn’tdothisbyhimself.

HeobservedthattheGreysquirrelsinhisscurrywerethebestleadersinplantingacorns.

Theyinstinctuallycontributedtogrowingtreesofknowledgeintheforest.

However,becausetherewasn’tadesignatedplaceforplantingthem,theacornsoftengrewinthewrongplacesorwereforgotten.

RecruitingtheGreysquirrelstoplanttheiracornsinSquirrelUwasakeytogettingtheforeststartedandbeginningtothrive.

TheothersquirrelbreedscopiedtheGreysquirrel’shabitsandefforts.

Attribution:Funnystack.compg9SpiderManFunnySquirrel

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Zippyis eagertosharethisvideoofaTEDTalkbyDerekSivers onstarting amovement…thisentireprocessisdepictedinlessthan3minutes.

Itseemedtodescribeexactlyhowhisexperiencehadgone.

▶ CUT@1:55.9,…andthat’showyoustartamovement!

haveyouseenthisbefore?Zippywantstowatchallthetime.

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TheseLeadersconvertedpassionatesquirrelsIntoforestevangelists.

Theyenthusiasticallyspreadthewordandgottheirhandsdirty.

Theyorganizedthelargeamountofknownacorns.TheyIdentifiedacornswhichwerestillneeded.Theytaughtothersquirrelshowtocontributetheirvaluableacorns.

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Zippyalsopulledtogetheragroupofexpertsquirrelsandgavethemjobsasthe“gatekeepers”totheforestcontent.

Theyensuredthatonlyqualityacornsmadeitintotheforestbycheckingthat:• theacornswererelevant(oakacornsnotwalnuts!).• TheacornsarecompletewithCONTEXT.• theacornswereaccuratewithsufficientdetail.• theacornsweren’tduplicates.• Theacornswerebeingplantedintherightplaces.

Byinspectingpullrequeststheyaddressedissuesbefore theacornwasplanted.

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2Fromthere,thecommunitystartedtheirtraining.

▶ TheylearnedhowtouseGitHuband▶ thenewprocessofplantingacorns…strengtheningtheiracorn-plantingskills.

Alongtheway,ZippyandhisleadersweretheretohelpreinforcetheconceptstheOctocathadintroduced.

Byplanningforthesethingsintheirsprints,andworkingonthesealittlebiteachday,theirforestwasgrowing.

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He alsointroduced“pairedprosing”,like“pairedprogramming”…encouragingsquirrelstoworktogethertoplanttheiracorns.

Justlikewithcoding,havingmorethanonesetofeyesonthetaskhelpstocreatebetter,morecomprehensivecontent.

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Zippy encouragedthescurrytoteamupwithothermembersoftheforest.

Thisexercisebroughtinfreshskillsetsandperspectives.Theywereabletotaptheexpertstogetthebestinformation.Theyfoundthestrongestwritersandcollaborators!

Itbecameeverysquirrel’sjobtoactivelyprunethegrowingtreestoremovedeadinformationandtoupdatechanges.

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4 Throughoutthiswholeprocess,Zippylearnedtheimportanceofpatience. Thiswasn’tanovernightprocess.

▶ Hehadtoremaindiligentanddisciplinedincontinuingshowingscurrymemberstherightway.

▶ Growthofanytreetakestime, soyouhaveto▶ keepwateringthesoiland▶ encouragingthecommunitytohelpandkeepplanting.

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2Anoaktreeproducesadecentamountofacornsinitsearlylife.

Butafterafewseasons,it▶ explodeswiththousandsofacorns!

Knowledgeplantedinthelearningrepositoryismuchthesame.

▶ Ifthetreestayshealthy,thereisatippingpointwherethevolumeofqualityacornsthatitprovidesisoverwhelminglyvaluable.

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Finallythesquirrelsinthescurryarecommunicatingandsharingtheiracorns.

Zippy’s scurryhaslearnedthatinsteadofonlyeatingacornsforimmediategratification;Thosewellplantedacornsproducenewtreesthatbecomelearninghomes,

Whichinturn,produceevenmoreacornswhichfeedlotsofsquirrellydevelopers.

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Sothat’sZippy’s story asIheardit.

SincethenZippyhasmadetremendousprogressonSquirrelU.Ithoughtthatyoumightbeinterestedinhisprogress.Letstakealook!

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OurteamhascontinuedtobuilduponZippy’s efforts.Weareusingthesetoolsinourworkteams.60+developersareinvolvedingatheringcontent.

Theseinvestmentsoftimearepayingusback!• Newteammembersareupandrunningfaster.• Competentdevelopershaveplentytosharpentheirteethon.• Seniorarchitectsstayfocusedontheirmainjobs.• Effortsarespentonhigherlevelproblems– notproblemsalreadysolved.• Tribalknowledgehastransformedintoreallearningtrees!

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2Beforewegettoofarfromthescurry,

� IwanttothankGitHub forthisprivilegeofsharingwithyoutoday.Andalsoforprovidingsuchagreatproduct!

Plus,▶ myteamthatwassosupportiveincreatingourlearningenvironmentandthispresentation.

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…andperhapsmostimportantly,Thankyouforjoiningusonourneverendinghuntforacornstoday.

Thisallstartswithyou.Youcanmakesuchahugedifferenceforyourteam.Chooseabundanceoverscarcity.

PleasetakeanAcornbacktoyourworkplace.Planttheseacornsinyourteams.Growthemintoyourownhealthyinformationforests.

Finally,enjoythebenefitsofhavingmoretimeandenergytoproducegreatproducts!

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4▶ SOUNDZippyis remindingusofhoweasyitistogetstarted!Forkacopy of▶Zippy’s RepositoryandPlaywiththe▶ SquirrelUsite!

Zippylooksforwardstomeetingyouagain!

Ifyou’veanyquestionsorareinterestedincollaborating,comeonup!

▶ SOUNDOUTRO:Zippers!

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