Outcomes matter more than outputs; doing things well with a living specification - please join the BCS Edinburgh branch for this event!
Speaker
Seb Rose
Agenda
6.00pm - Arrival, refreshments and networking
6:30pm - Talk
7:30pm - Questions and Answers
7:45pm - Event ends
Synopsis
If I asked you whether outputs or outcomes were more important, which would you choose? My guess (and hope) is that you’d choose outcomes. If I asked you to characterise your employer’s preference, perhaps you’d feel that they talk a lot about outcomes (confidence, satisfaction, quality), but seem to value outputs (features, releases, sales) more.
In this session, I will explore the ancient paradox of making haste slowly, from the construction of prehistoric stone circles through to software development using agentic AI. I hope that I’ll be able to convince you that, even though the building of Stonehenge may seem to have nothing in common with pressure for you to use Claude Code, an aspiration to “do something well” is an essential prerequisite for delivering successful outcomes affordably in both contexts. I’ll go further to argue that to “do something well” some sort of living specification is required to drive the work that’s being done.
About the speaker
Seb has been a consultant, coach, designer, analyst and developer for over 40 years. He has been involved in the full development lifecycle with experience that ranges from architecture to support, from C to Visual Basic. During his career, he has worked for companies large (e.g. IBM, Amazon) and small, and has extensive experience of failed projects. He's now an independent software consultant and trainer, promoting effective ways of working to the software development and testing community. Regular speaker at conferences and occasional contributor to software journals. Co-author of the BDD Books series "Discovery” and "Formulation" (bddbooks.com), lead author of “The Cucumber for Java Book” (Pragmatic Programmers), and contributing author to “97 Things Every Programmer Should Know” (O’Reilly). He blogs at claysnow.co.uk and socialises as @sebrose.bsky.social.
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This event is brought to you by: Edinburgh Branch
