Dungeons, Dragons & Developers • Matt Brunt • YOW! 2025

This presentation was recorded at YOW! 2025. #GOTOcon #YOW https://yowcon.com Matt Brunt - Dungeon Master & Team Tinkerer @MattBrunt RESOURCES https://bsky.app/profile/brunty.me https://mastodon.social/@brunty https://github.com/Brunty https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattbrunt https://brunty.me ABSTRACT You enter the dungeon, as the echoes of your footsteps sound around you, something catches your eye - is that… oh, oh no. You grab your trusty sword and with your fellow adventurers, you seek to overcome the mighty challenge that lays ahead of you: building software. This talk is a look at some of the parallels between Dungeons and Dragons, and software development. We’ll see how lessons learned through delving into dungeons and fighting monsters with a party of adventurers can help teams of developers when building software in the real world. Are you ready to join me in a mighty quest for better software? [...] TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 02:42 Dungeons & Dragons 04:24 The dungeon master 05:35 Our story begins with you 06:03 Your alignment 07:35 My alignment? 07:53 Wizards 09:34 Our party 11:28 The quest 13:41 Find your balance 15:51 Quest requirements 17:02 Defend your side 19:00 Ok, let's get going! 20:36 Hey folks, can I join you? 24:41 Losing the path 25:22 Crossing the river 27:10 Decisions need context 27:35 Hey DM, can we try? 28:24 Agility over Agile 30:25 Sometimes you roll a natural 20 31:02 Sometimes you roll a natural 1 31:15 Be prepared 31:43 Use knowledge & experience 33:43 "I Cast Fireball" 34:26 Knowledge silos are a barrier to progress 35:40 The final hill 36:09 Exhaustion 38:31 Reaching your goal 39:58 Victory & reward 41:14 Summary 41:56 Outro Download slides and read the full abstract here: https://yowcon.com/brisbane-2025/sessions/3641 RECOMMENDED BOOKS Heidi Helfand • Dynamic Reteaming • https://amzn.to/3Fvu5BA Heidi Helfand • How to Change Your Teams • https://leanpub.com/DRTGuide Carl Larson & Frank M J LaFasto • Teamwork • https://amzn.to/4cFWseQ Gene Kim & Steve Spear • Wiring the Winning Organization • https://amzn.to/3QJcfBp https://bsky.app/profile/gotocon.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/goto- https://www.instagram.com/goto_con https://www.facebook.com/GOTOConferences #Teams #DynamicTeams #CompanyCulture #Productivity #DeveloperProductivity #HumanFactor #SoftSkills #TeamProductivity #TeamSpirit #DungeonsAndDragons #MattBrunt #YOWcon CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket at https://gotopia.tech Sign up for updates and specials at https://gotopia.tech/newsletter SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL - new videos posted almost daily. https://www.youtube.com/user/GotoConferences/?sub_confirmation=1