Todd Sedano on Considerate Pairing

In this video, I interview Todd Sedano, Engineering Manager at Pivotal Software, former Director of Software Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, and extremely thoughtful pair programmer.

Todd has thought a lot about the people side of pairing, and brought a wonderful sense of compassion and vulnerability to this this interview. It’s very much worth a watch for improving the “soft skills” of pairing.

Topics include

• Todd’s “one secret” about pairing.
• The beauty of “I can’t do it, but we can.”
• Why you might welcome interruptions when working as a pair.
• A good break cadence/length during sessions.
• Todd’s Considerate Pair Programming Technique Cards
• How to increase the odds that your pairing relationships stay healthy.
• The power of asking for feedback and sharing your vulnerabilities.
• How to pair within a power imbalance.
• Why Todd doesn’t love the driver/navigator metaphor.