More Bob: Sat ci sat bene

More of the indisputable Uncle Bob, The Frenzied Panic of Rushing:

James and I had just ordered Gin and Tonics from the airport bar and returned to the waiting area, when we saw a group of the TWers frantically working on their laptops. We asked someone what was going on, and were told that they were racing to see who could implement Langton's Ant quickest.

James and I looked at each other, nodded, opened a laptop, and quietly began to pair-program. We followed our disciplines, wrote test-first, kept the code clean, got it working after a few minutes, and then closed the laptop. We looked up, and the young twenty-thirty-something TWers were still expending copious energies in a fit of frantic coding. The frenzied intensity of their effort, driven by the panic of potential loss, was evident in their gestures and expressions. We, the two fifty-something programmers, smiled, clinked our Gin and Tonics, and sat back to enjoy the show being put on by all those young turks who never even guessed that they had been calmly bested by two of their seniors who had the experience and wisdom to know that the only way to go fast is to go well.

I am happy I joined ThoughtWorks after the story took place lest I have been one of the frantic foragers.