Metaphors are like knives. You can use them to cut yourself and if you throw rocks at them, they fall apart

Metaphors and analogies are powerful tools to make the indescribable describable and the nonunderstandable understandable.

As with every tool misused, though, they can be dangerous, leading to wrong conclusions or creating unwanted side effects.

By showing a few analogies and metaphors that are commonly used in our field and how taking them too far makes things worse instead of better, I’ll try to show you ways of detecting these fallacies and at the same time drop some serious opinionated shit on your heads, like a pigeon after the third taco. Or something.

Transcript

1. Metaphors are like knives — You can use them to cut yourself and if you throw rocks at them, they fall apart Jan Krutisch for Scottish Ruby Conf 2013 http://jan.krutisch.de/ @halfbyte
2. Metaphors are like knives — You can use them to cut yourself and if you throw rocks at them, they fall apart Jan Krutisch for Scottish Ruby Conf 2013 http://jan.krutisch.de/ @halfbyte
14. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Can_factory_interior,_published_1909.jpg
24. "But this is a case where I think scrum in particular, and agile in general just got it wrong. No battle was won by gaining the consensus of the soldiers." Uncle Bob
25. "And if you don’t think developing a system is a battle against time, resources, and attitudes, then you’ve never built a system." Uncle Bob
26. https://sites.google.com/site/unclebobconsultingllc/master-craftsman-teams
33. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cflat/2910553722/
35. • Jan Krutisch • Freelance Web Developer • Hamburg/ Germany • http://jan.krutisch.de • jan@krutisch.de • http://thesinglepageapp.com Thank You. Questions?