Joshua Aresty Paring Journey && #OpenToGuests

Joshua Aresty and Tony Hansmann take us through joining Pivotal, a pure pairing shop where coding practices and team dynamics are on another level. Joshua narrates his accidental path to Pivotal's San Francisco office. There, he plunged into the Release Integration Team, pairing with a diverse set of folks that ranged from freelance genius to PhD math candidates.

At the heart of their discussion lies the concept of paired programming. For both Joshua and Tony, pairing went beyond coding; it established an intimate, productive co-mingling of intellectual capacities. They describe it as an 'entrained nervous system,' leading to a form of work harmony that, once tasted, makes solo efforts seem impoverished in comparison.

The episode also touches on the "stay interview"—a Pivotal 1:1 practice of asking: why are you not quitting today?

Joshua rounds out the discussion with a model for effective remote pairing with the #OpenToGuests model. As always, there’s a practice to establish in your own shop.