Getting Buy-In: Overcoming Larman's Law • Allen Holub • GOTO 2025

Allen Holub’s talk offers a pragmatic and insightful perspective on organizational change in software development. The value of the information lies in its practical advice for developers and managers seeking to implement innovative practices like mob programming or no-estimation. Holub draws on his extensive experience and references established concepts such as Larman’s Law and Conway’s Law, which are widely recognized in the software engineering community. The argumentation is coherent and well-structured, moving from the problem (Larman’s Law) to potential solutions (incremental change, business case). However, the talk is primarily based on anecdotal evidence and personal opinion rather than empirical research. While Holub mentions that rational thinking does not work, he does not provide scientific studies to support his claims. The quality of sources is moderate; he references Craig Larman’s work and provides links to his own resources, but there is a lack of peer-reviewed literature. The adéquation between title and content is strong, as the talk directly addresses overcoming resistance to change. The talk is aimed at a professional audience, but the analysis does not consider the level of the public. Overall, the talk is valuable for its practical insights and experienced perspective, but its reliability is limited by the absence of rigorous scientific evidence. The speaker’s credibility is high, but the content would benefit from more empirical support. The talk also touches on the importance of aligning software architecture with organizational structure, which is a valuable point. The discussion of Value Stream Mapping and time value of money provides concrete tools for building a business case. However, the talk could be criticized for being overly pessimistic about the possibility of large-scale transformation, which might discourage some listeners. Despite this, the incremental approach advocated is realistic and actionable. In conclusion, the talk is a solid contribution to the discourse on agile and organizational change, offering practical wisdom from a seasoned practitioner.

The title accurately reflects the content, which focuses on overcoming organizational resistance to change, specifically Larman's Law.

7/10

The talk is based on the speaker's extensive experience and references well-known concepts (Larman's Law, Conway's Law) but lacks empirical data or peer-reviewed sources. The argumentation is coherent and practical, but the reliability is limited by anecdotal evidence and personal opinion.

• 00:00Intro
• 01:14Larman's Law of organizational behavior
• 12:39Conway's Law
• 15:12How to make this all work
• 22:35How to speak to managers
• 28:35Value Stream Mapping
• 35:49Time value of money
• 53:40Summary
• 55:57Outro

• Larman's Laws of Organizational Behavior — Referenced as the foundational concept of the talk.
• GOTO Copenhagen 2025 Session Page — Contains slides and full abstract of the talk.
• Allen Holub's Website — Speaker's personal site with contact and consulting information.
• Allen Holub on LinkedIn — Speaker's professional profile.
• Allen Holub on Bluesky — Speaker's social media profile.
• Allen Holub on Mastodon — Speaker's social media profile.
• GOTO Conferences on Bluesky — Conference's social media profile.
• GOTO Copenhagen — Conference website.
• GOTOpia — GOTO's online platform.
• GOTOpia Newsletter — Newsletter signup.
• GOTO Conferences on LinkedIn — Conference's LinkedIn page.
• GOTO Conferences YouTube Channel — Channel subscription link.
• Talk Notes (GoodNotes) — Live notebook used during the talk.

• Larman's Laws of Organizational Behavior — The talk directly builds on this concept.
• Conway's Law — Referenced as a key principle.

• Agile Manifesto