FC Garage by Francesco Cirillo: Francesco's Work

My New Book

Being effective in uncertainty
For the last six years, I have been developing a unique approach to production: An approach that can enable increased productivity through sustainable effort. I describe this approach in my new book.

FC Garage

The productivity company
In 2011, I founded FC Garage in Berlin. The aim of the company is to create tools and techniques - our productivity engines - that improve individual and team productivity in an effective and sustainable way.

Anti-IF Campaign

Growing great software
In 2007, I created the Anti-IF Campaign to promote evolutionary principles of good design in a simple, direct way. The objectives of the campaign focus on techniques and methods that favor emergent design.

XPLabs

Discovering why XP works
In 2000, I founded XPLabs, a company specializing in product development, consulting and training based on Extreme Programming. I formed the first European teams grounded in the principles and practices of XP and began research on emergent design.

Extreme Programming

Learning to grow software
At the end of the 90s, I was one of the first developers in Europe interested in Extreme Programming. I worked with the team of a Swiss software house in which Kent Beck developed and evolved the ideas based on XP. In 2005, Kent Beck chose me as one of the reviewers of the 2nd edition of his book on Extreme Programming.

Mentoring and Consulting

Process, tools and methods
In the '90s, I began a multi-year collaboration with Sun Microsystems: my career as a consultant, mentor and trainer specialized in Process Improvement and Software Development begins. Over the years I trained and mentored hundreds of managers and developers throughout Europe on issues of productivity and the evolution of software.

Financial Engineering

Real-time distributed system development
Once out of the university, I became part of a team that supported the general direction of a large bank, with a double role consisting of both finance and technology. There, I lead the development of object-oriented real-time applications for financial engineering that were distributed at a worldwide level.

Studying with the Pomodoro

Process improvement @University
Towards the end of the 80s during my university studies, I created the Pomodoro Technique, a time management technique that is now known around the world. After completing a Master's degree in Economics in 1994, I have kept myself busy, always combining management and programming activities.

Education of a Programmer

Objects, Objects, Objects
At the end of the 70s, I started learning the first programming languages on a personal computer. From the beginning of the 80s, I became part of a team of young programmers whose software development is supported by one of the first computer shops.

Interviews

29 Sep 2009

Interview with Rebecca Wirfs-Brock - On his last trip to the US, Francesco managed to interview Rebecca Wirfs-Brock on various issues regarding the Agile world. Here you’ll find his interview.[...]

26 Sep 2009

Interview with Ward Cunningham - It was a real pleasure for Francesco to see Ward again and to have a walk with him in some of the most beautiful places in Oregon. The following are four questions and answers[...]

28 Jan 2008

The Agile Movement and Practices - This interview was carried out by Wiki@Home with Francesco Cirillo during the Italian Agile Day 2007 held in Bologna on the 23 November 2007.[...]

31 Jan 2003

Education of an Extreme Programmer - Benefits and personal initial successes, and also applicability, cultural resistance, difficulties in terms of approach, and future prospects: an up-close look at Extreme Prog[...]

Notes about Berlin, Startups and the Garage

31 May 2012

How can I improve my CV for #itaprog2berlin? - Francesco's suggestions on how to improve your CV. [...]

02 Nov 2011

We Made It! - Berlin is a colorful, stimulating and organized city. As of today we are 100% operational in the heart of Berlin with the new Garage. [...]

05 Oct 2010

Do You Know What a Klog Is? - "But can it really be so difficult and so expensive to develop a website today?"[...]

06 Aug 2009

On Values... - A lot can be learned from this video. My advice is to watch it more than once.[...]

29 Jun 2009

Responsibility and Thinking… - Many students ask me how they can improve their skills as programmers. Here there are some books I want to recommend.[...]

Articles on Process Improvement and productivity

28 Feb 2011

The Certification Experiment - When listening to what clients are requesting, it is not always sufficient to simply offer what they ask for...[...]

30 Oct 2009

I Don’t Want To Be Motivated By Anyone But Myself - This week a tough topic emerged from working with my new team: motivation.[...]

08 May 2009

The Magic Suitcase - The metaphor of the suitcase has helped many teams improve their processes and increase their results. [...]

19 Nov 2008

The Agile Fear - "Teams who embrace agile methods gain immediate advantages but they don't realize that they're 'working the same way they used to work'." Here you can find Francesco[...]

25 Sep 2008

When a Pair Goes Pear Shaped - Pair programming somtimes goes pear shaped. Such a case may come up when the pair is grappling with technological issues. It happened with a team I'm mentoring.[...]

04 Jul 2008

Refactoring for Office Interiors - Organizing the work environment effectively might not be a simple task for an agile team. Often you need to get permission just to move one table. Not to mention what happens [...]

27 May 2008

Mamma Programming - Pair programming can be superficially defined as two programmers working together on a user story: two programmers, one keyboard, one computer. More and more often in teams th[...]

22 Apr 2008

Keep the Peel and Throw Out the Banana - A few years ago, in delivering a keynote speech at the Italian Agile Day 2006, Francesco presented the metaphor of the "XP photo": the teams seemed to be stuck on trying to lo[...]

26 Mar 2008

Team Anti-Patterns: "Social Pacts" - There are many factors that can break up the cohesion of the team. Of all these, I consider social pacts that may emerge within the team the most damaging. [...]

12 Feb 2008

The Importance of Feedback - Feedback is one of the values of Extreme Programming, and of Agile Methods in general. Often, though, the importance of feedback is underestimated, even in "mature" agile team[...]

07 Apr 2003

One to Many - Emergent Design Workshop I IF IT WORKS FOR ONE IT WILL WORK FOR MANY In Emergent Design the order of increments is proportionately relevant to the effort it takes to deliver a[...]