Our special guest will be Dr. Lee Devin, Professor Emeritus at Swarthmore College. He will examine the topic of preparation versus planning. Planning being what you do so that you can do exactly what you want; preparation being what you do so that you can do whatever becomes necessary.

With Rob Austin of the Harvard Business School, Lee wrote Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know about How Artists Work. Austin contacted Devin when he joined the Harvard faculty in 1997, and the two began an ongoing dialogue that led eventually to the book. Their book explores the use of theater techniques to do creative work in business: replacing restraint with release, compromise with collaboration, and industrial teams with knowledge work ensembles. The two authors are at work on their next book: Reliable Innovation.

"For years businesses have been trying to figure out how to innovate reliably. Good theater companies have done it successfully for a long time," says Devin.

"Few business deadlines are as firm as opening night. And yet theater companies consistently deliver high-quality products under deadline pressure. Business managers can learn a great deal about reliable innovation from the way collaborative artists do, and manage, their work."

Lee has presented at the Cutter Summit, the Harvard Business School, the Academy of Management, and the Agile 2005 Executive Summit. Lee's other writings from which he will draw upon include:

• "Beyond Requirements: Software Making as Art," with Rob Austin. IEEE Software, Jan/Feb, 2003.
• "Successful Innovation through Artful Process," with Rob Austin, Leader to Leader, Spring 2004.
• "The Economics of Agility in Software Development," with Rob Austin, Working Paper, Harvard Business School.
• "Planning to Get Lucky," with Rob Austin, Cutter IT Journal, Vol. 17, No. 11, November 2004.
• "An Innovative Frame of Mind," Cutter Benchmark Review, Vol 6, No. 5, May 2006.

Lee's presentation is appropriate for managers, as well as programmers, architects, testers, and their customers. There is no cost to attend and the meeting is open to the public.

Lee Devin graduated from San Jose State College in 1958 and took his PhD at Indiana University. He has taught at the University of Virginia, Vassar College, and Swarthmore College. In 1970 he founded The Theatre at Swarthmore, which became in time the Department of Theater Studies. In 1975 be became a member of the artistic staff of the People's Light and Theatre, acting, teaching acting, and doing dramaturgy.

Along the way, Lee has written articles, plays, opera librettos, and translations. He has worked as a technical director, master electrician, production stage manager, and dramaturg. Lee has acted and directed in the academy, the regional theatre, and for movies and TV. He has a framed SAG residuals check in the amount of $0.01 to memorialize his movie career.

Lee retired from teaching in 2002. He is currently a Dramaturg at People's Light and Theatre and a Senior Research Scholar at Swarthmore College. He's at work several writing projects that interfere with his trout fishing, and cause him to neglect his grand children.

A special thanks to Rally Software Development for sponsoring the speaker expenses, event location and refreshments.

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