Shu Ha Ri, Summarized (or, the story of my life)
You may occasionally see the term Shu Ha Ri bandied about in people that think a lot about Agile and Lean. I think Alistair Cockburn was the first to use it in relation to software development.
The idea is that we should teach the beginner (Shu) some techniques, or best practices. Ha is the stage where the beginner has learned that there are some underlying principles, and begins to explore those. Ri is the master stage, where the master adapts and invents new techniques.
“Shu Ha Ri” is implicitly a craft-based way of thinking of software development. The individual words imply the different levels of craftsman, from apprentice through journeyman, to master.
The more interesting aspect of the term relates to communication. It can be hard for Shu-level and Ri-level to communicate. This is because Ri believes there is no single best solution to a problem (everything depends – he will implement a best solution by adapting as he creates it). But Shu needs firm guidance – he needs to be told a good-enough way to solve the problem.
One way for Ri to communicate is using the principle of strong opinions, weakly held. That is, he should communicate as if he is certain that what he says is correct. But it is all an act. He is not certain, and definitely not attached to the opinion.
In short, if I am Ri then I should feel free to present my opinions or theories as dogma.
If the other individual can show a better way, then I will accept that (it’s easy, since I was never attached to the original opinion anyway).
