Write about a model

A pessimist, optimist and realist are talking about writing. After discussing writing about someone else’s writing, they realised that people write about their models.

Optimist: I love a good model. Models can be the best kind of communication tool for very complex things. For example, The Agile Testing Quadrants, Squad Health Check model, and PQIP to name but a few. I write about the models I develop to help me articulate and refine them with my team and then to see if others in the community might find them helpful. Models can start movements and create plenty of debates. They can be far reaching so it's important we document them.

Pessimist: That’s easy for you to say, I’m too busy to think about defining a model, let alone write about it. Where do I even start? And who am I writing for? All models are contextual and if I write it for myself then surely others won’t be able to use it?

Realist: The good thing about writing about a model is that you can help the reader understand some of the concepts behind it. And while you could argue that a good model doesn’t need an explanation, in most cases they do. And writing around the model is where the good stuff happens for the reader. So I recommend writing about a model to provide a good service to those who discover it. You can’t just create a pretty diagram and expect folks to understand how to apply it in its entirety. Unsure how to define your own model? Start by writing an anaylsis of someone else's model. Writing about your own model or someone else’s is a good way to anchor a collaborative team conversation. I highly recommend it.

The optimist, pessimist, and realist decided they had explored enough for today. They said their goodbyes and parted ways. The optimist smiled contentedly and thought to themselves, “That was a brilliant discussion, and I’m so glad there are many things to write about in the MoTaverse."

Later that day the realist reflected, "If writing's not your thing, record a video instead."