Keynote: Collective Problem Solving in Music, Science, Art and Software

by Jessica Kerr

The keynote titled "Collective Problem Solving in Music, Science, Art and Software" by Jessica Kerr at RubyConf 2019 explores the theme of collaborative problem-solving across various domains, drawing connections between historical and contemporary practices in music, science, art, and software development. The presentation beings with the examination of the Florentine Camerata, a group of innovators in 16th-century Florence who aimed to reform music, emphasizing the need to balance words and music to enhance emotional expression.

Key Points Discussed:

- Historical Significance of the Florentine Camerata:

- Composed of multidisciplinary individuals (musicians, poets, scientists) who collaborated to create a new musical form, leading to the invention of opera and the Baroque era.

- They sought inspiration from ancient Greek practices and utilized a laboratory-like environment for creative discussions and music performances.

Invisible Colleges:
- Dr. Ruth Katz’s paper highlights how the Camerata exemplified an 'invisible college' similar to modern scientific collaborations, where individuals engage in mutual learning and critique to advance their work.
Historical Collaborations in Science:
- The speaker compares historical collaborative efforts, like those of Benjamin Franklin in the study of electricity, to the contributions of coffeehouse culture in London during the Enlightenment that facilitated scientific and artistic advancements.
Modern Collaboration in Art:
- The presentation discusses the salons of Paris, where artists and thinkers exchanged ideas that sparked movements like cubism led by figures like Picasso and Gertrude Stein.
Agile Software Development Practices:
- Kerr draws parallels to software development, reflecting on pivotal teams and movements such as ThoughtWorks and the Spring framework that emerged from collaborative efforts to deliver quality software efficiently.
The Importance of Culture and Mindset in Collaboration:
- Emphasizes the need for a supportive culture that encourages knowledge sharing and collective growth, citing Gregory Bateson's principles of systems thinking and his daughter's concept of 'symmathesy.'

Conclusions and Takeaways:

- Successful teams are characterized not just by their outstanding members but by the strength of their collaborative dynamics, leading to remarkable outcomes.

- Building a flourishing team environment requires focusing on not just technical skills but also on the richness of interpersonal interactions and nurturing a culture of collective recognition.

- The evolution of societies is tied closely to the collaborative spirit, with programming emerging as a new medium for artistic expression that parallels historical creative movements.

- The talk concludes with an invitation to embrace the interconnected nature of modern endeavors in software development to create a significant impact in society.

00:00:11.889 In the years around 1580 in the city of Florence, Italy, in the home of Giovanni de' Bardi, Count of Vernio, a group of people came together to solve a common problem. They called themselves the Florentine Camerata, and their mission was to reform modern music.

00:01:22.130 First of all, they were multidisciplinary. You had musicians, composers, and singers, but you also had poets, astrologers, scientists, philosophers, noblemen, and clergy. They formed a group because they all cared about solving this problem. They had sponsorship and met in the homes of Giovanni de' Bardi and Jacobo Corsi. In some ways, it was more like a meetup than a traditional team, but they had a common purpose, which was significant, and they used agreed-upon methods.

00:02:11.600 At that time, they thought history moved in a circle rather than in progression or spirals. To advance, they needed to look back, so they researched how the ancient Greeks set words to music. They didn’t have recordings but studying this lent legitimacy to their efforts. It reminds me of how I cite computer science papers from the 1970s. Cugini, the renowned singer, remarked that he learned more from their learning discussions than from thirty years of lecturing.

00:02:53.140 Fortunately, this conference is full of learning discussions. They met every week or two, but they didn't just talk; they also played music. The Camerata was a laboratory for creation and performance, and they had code reviews. I liked the part where the censors were nominated for the occasion. It wasn't always friendly—Bardi and Corsi, the two sponsors, often disagreed, with Bardi preferring more discussion while Corsi wanted more music.

00:03:20.720 Similarly, the musical stars had their disputes: Kachina believed it was about the music with some words, while Perry insisted it focused on the words with some music. Architects can never agree on everything, but they achieved that balance. The Camerata made history; they succeeded. They invented what came to be known as 'la rappresentativo,' a radical innovation featuring a single melody supported by minimal musical accompaniment. It might seem obvious now, but this new style spread throughout their correspondence network to Rome, Italy, and beyond, allowing others to listen to this new music.

00:04:09.360 I still struggle to understand the words since I don't speak Italian. And I'm told that speaking Italian doesn’t help much because this was ancient Italian. However, at the time, people understood it and felt it deeply. This development connected a whole generation with music that they might not have appreciated otherwise. The Camerata completely transformed the world of music; they essentially invented opera, marking the beginning of the Baroque era.

00:04:48.800 What intrigues me even more than their historical significance is what happened to the individuals in the Camerata afterward. After 1600, among their publications, we find not just operas, but also philosophical and scientific treatises, as well as mathematical works. Vincenzo Galilei also contributed, and his son, Galileo, further advanced various fields. These accomplishments represent fewer than half of the Camerata members who currently have Wikipedia articles. They certainly didn't expect such lasting recognition in 16th-century Florence.

00:05:39.740 My curiosity led me to further research, and I came upon a paper titled "Collective Problem Solving in the History of Music" by Dr. Ruth Katz, a musicologist published in the Journal of the History of Ideas. By the way, all the quotes in this presentation are from this paper unless otherwise attributed. Dr. Katz compares the Camerata to an 'invisible college' known to be a significant source of progress in science.

00:06:12.270 An invisible college is a group of individuals in your lab, or people you share a faculty lounge with, who are all working on similar problems and critiquing each other's work. These invisible colleges are essential and have several key characteristics: they have tacit understandings about the appropriate methods of research, they engage in priority problems (which means disputes about who is first), and they employ shorthand communication—akin to a shared language.

00:06:57.420 This kind of communication allows them to spread new ideas quickly. This model is found throughout the history of science. We often celebrate the hero stories of great discoverers, but that’s not the whole picture. For example, we’re taught in school that Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity. While Franklin was indeed a remarkable figure who conducted significant experiments, he built upon and collaborated with countless amateur electricians around the globe.

00:07:36.630 Many were engaged in experiments surrounding the unexplained phenomena we now refer to as electricity and magnetism, as well as chasing numerous other theories until he emerged with the one that worked best. That’s how he obtained so much credit. Franklin's contemporaries, like the Club of Honest Whigs in London, similarly utilized collaborative problem-solving.

00:08:31.790 Fast-forward to around 1770, this club met fortnightly at the London coffee house to dine, drink, and discuss science—particularly electricity, religion, and various political matters. This gathering, as described in a book about Joseph Priestley, who is credited with discovering oxygen among other contributions, was catalytic for many of the innovations coming out of the Enlightenment.

00:10:21.700 The coffeehouse culture during this period was vital to the advances made in arts and sciences. The documentations and discussions that thrived in these coffeehouses were akin to the salons in Paris, where you had artists, critics, collectors, and all the stakeholders in the art world gathering to exchange ideas. Just as artists of different styles communicated and explored varying artistic expressions based on their surroundings, the Impressionists posed the idea: what if I painted not just how things are, but how I see them?

00:11:02.830 Here’s an image of one of those salons where this conversation happened. This particular place is called the Agile Bunny, and there's a plaque outside featuring a big house known for housing many famous painters and poets, who went on to gain prominence in the art world. One notable artist who thrived amidst this innovative environment was Vincent van Gogh. His brother Theo encouraged him to come to Paris, which opened up a world of new colors for Vincent and ultimately shaped his iconic style.

00:12:08.820 Through this social network of creativity, they formed circles of friends and artists, such as Toulouse-Lautrec and later, those like Gertrude Stein. Stein and her brother Leo were American expats living in Paris, immersed in the growing art scene that included figures like Picasso and Georges Braque. They were pivotal in the emergence of cubism.

00:13:18.610 As Picasso and his contemporaries showed up to Gertrude's salon, they shared ideas, igniting a cultural movement that sought to explore all perspectives simultaneously through art. The collaborative dynamic generated a unique supportive environment for the development of concepts like behavior-driven design, which would later influence numerous movements within software development.

00:14:36.500 Many of these transformative groups serve as a parallel in software as well. Looking back at a pivotal team in ThoughtWorks London from around 2003 to 2006, various consultants came together to solve the problem of delivering software in under two weeks while ensuring a healthy work-life balance. Many of them went on to write influential books about DevOps and continuous delivery.

00:15:52.200 Among them, Dan North pioneered behavior-driven design, while others became known for their expertise in microservices. The ripple effect of that team still extends into the software world today. Similarly, a significant team forming other movements, such as Spring framework, sought to solve the complexity of Enterprise Java development without compromising quality or developer well-being.

00:17:31.990 It is accessible in today's software world as we work closely together to create solutions and innovate. Kent Beck reflected upon similar early collaborations, like the Hillside Group, highlighting how they addressed the problem of writing understandable and maintainable software over the long run.

00:18:32.780 The influence of these influential software groups leads us to consider how collaborative environments and organic social interactions nurture incredible team dynamics. They showed that exceptional teams produce remarkable individuals, and you cannot merely assemble great developers and expect wonderful results. Instead, it’s great teams that cultivate great individuals.

00:19:42.919 So why is this magic apparent? Understanding the underlying mechanisms is essential. I have a model I’d like to share, inspired by Gregory Bateson, whose father William Bateson coined the term ‘genetics.’ Gregory’s early associations with the Macy Conferences on Cybernetics brought brilliant minds together whom you may recognize: John von Neumann created game theory; Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener did work in information theory; and Margaret Mead studied anthropology and psychology.

00:20:43.700 They frequently collaborated and discussed concepts like feedback loops, which became fundamental in various fields. Bateson later applied systems thinking, highlighting that it’s impossible to isolate parts of a system in an effort to understand them. The essential dynamics exist among the relationships.

00:21:57.800 He emphasized that when exploring psychological health or family matters, one must appreciate how situations influence individuals, rather than isolating them in analysis. His daughter, Nora Bateson, continued this journey into anthropological theories and concluded that we need a nuanced framework to discuss these interconnected learning systems.

00:23:11.260 She coined a new word, 'symmathesy,' meaning a system where all parts engage in continuous learning from one another, allowing the entire system to evolve and grow. Unlike traditional systems, which can often be seen as a sum of their parts, symmathesy is about learning interactions that foster systemic change. This perspective is integral to understanding how teams evolve.

00:24:23.300 Our teams function similarly; they’re not just aggregations of individuals but rather interconnected nodes within a broader learning ecosystem. In software, success doesn’t only depend on the brilliant individuals contributing but also requires a socio-technical system where communications, history, and relationships assist learning.

00:25:38.020 To illustrate, when a new developer joins a project led by an experienced one, collaborative learning may emerge organically via pair programming or mob programming. However, if the existing developers are only driven by ticket closure, true knowledge sharing won’t happen. Instead, developers become siloed, limiting broader insights.

00:26:45.180 Learning transfers most efficiently when high performers prioritize the group instead of individual accolades. In invisible colleges of the past, conflict often arose concerning who would take credit for discoveries, leading to a culture where ideas were guarded instead of shared.

00:27:40.150 But ideas flourish in a generous environment and grow bigger when shared, multiplying their impact on the team. We can encourage a growth mindset that places an emphasis on collaborative recognition—an essential factor for a thriving team. Building strong relationships among team members enhances wealth of shared knowledge, creating interdependent thinkers.

00:28:50.810 Measuring a growing team isn’t just about headcount—it’s about the quality and richness of interactions. Our measures resemble economic flows. In economics, the economy is described through transactional flows rather than sheer size or quantity. Likewise, teams should be characterized by their flow of communication and learning.

00:29:41.530 The ecological measure of a thriving ecosystem lies in nutrient flows. In the same way, a software team grows through facilitating collaboration and amplifying learning across all levels of the organization. Focusing on creating a strong flow necessitates reducing bottlenecks, such as the line of representation that exists between human systems and digital infrastructure.

00:30:54.640 The digital realm can sometimes inhibit seeing a clear picture of what’s happening in the software systems. Often, we rely on abstract representations of behavior that complicate the understanding of our own code. This limitation creates gaps in mental models and decision-making.

00:32:17.710 Complex software systems mean every developer’s understanding is imperfect, leading to the necessity for collaboration to fill knowledge gaps across the team. Just as we need overlapping ideas to develop strategies, teams require diverse knowledge to navigate expectations and passions.

00:33:31.160 This interconnectedness can easily break down if the dynamics aren't supportive. When one developer is significantly more informed than their peers, the onboarding process for others becomes challenging. Developers working at the pace of their individual understanding may lead to disarray.

00:34:45.440 The solution to this problem is peer programming, which allows the knowledge to disperse organically through conversations and questionings. By working together, teams enhance collective understandings—these enrich not just individual learning experiences but the entire team. Yet, if individuals are more incentivized to get work done than share knowledge, then retention is compromised.

00:36:01.830 The broader scientific community has realized this conflict before, and a proper system encourages collaboration over individual accolades. It necessitates cultivating an environment where individuals share ideas freely without fear of credit.

00:37:06.210 With this understanding of shared growth and distribution of knowledge in mind, we circle back to the importance of culture. Attending to the employment of sharing knowledge epigenetically has been fostered by the conditions and societal norms surrounding groups like the Camerata. They weren’t just sharing ideas; they were evolving within a rich cultural milieu.

00:37:57.650 The Renaissance itself was a transition toward accepting artists as significant actors in shaping culture, culminating in a celebration of creativity. The artists began to gain prestige along with thriving artist guilds outside the stronghold of craftsmanship.

00:39:20.740 They dissolved pre-existing barriers that segregated their fields while creating a space of unfiltered collaboration. Such a period of transformation could propel anyone willing to embrace abstract ideas in more egalitarian cultural climates. Programmers, testers, and operators need a collaborative ecosystem that has room for creativity—one that focuses less on perfection than on holistic growth.

00:40:37.420 At last, programming as an essential skill provides an avenue for shaping world progression. Code becomes a new medium by which we can engage and interact in unforeseeable ways, capable of rapid iterations, deeper reflections, and reassessments that do not take decades to explore.

00:42:12.560 This distance from traditional applications of art makes room for new categories of social interaction. While I won't go so far as to claim software is just another form of art, I do want to demonstrate that what we craft through programming is likely the next frontier of human creativity—a practice in symmathesy where we learn not just from the tools but through the interconnected working of our systems.

00:43:58.930 What I share is not solely my perspective; it emerges from collaborative endeavors. The recognition that we are all constructs of our cultures and communities is of utmost importance. I am excited to be part of a software community that allows collective creativity to flourish and inspires me to view software development as more than a craft—rather as a significant artistic leap in societal progress.

00:45:08.160 As the software world innovates, it becomes the next evolution of creativity in our shared history. This forward motion occurs within new methodologies that break down silos, emphasizing relationships and adaptability to the complexity of modern problems at their core.