[melbourne-pug] OT: Researching developer productivity/Alexander Technique

[Nick Mellor]

Hi all,

I run two businesses from home, one of them a newly-minted Django house 
currently developing its first product, the other an Alexander Technique 
consultancy. It's about the second of these that I'm posting this time.

I'm possibly off-topic so I have already asked one of the leading lights 
if it's okay to post. He said probably, in as many words, but if anyone 
objects to me posting here on this subject I would be grateful if you'd 
let me know.

What I'm interested in doing is using some kind of metric to measure the 
*overall* effect of Alexander Technique (AT) lessons on a software 
developer's productivity. Alexander Technique helps back pain, 
repetitive strain injury and headaches and can also, anecdotally, help 
you think more clearly.

We might use a version control system such as git to measure the number 
of lines added or modified as a measure of work rate, for example. Is 
anyone more up to date than me on how to measure progress in computing 
projects? I'd be glad to hear from you.

The basic idea is very simple:

1. Do some developing
2. Measure the rate of work
3. Have 6 Alexander Technique lessons
4. Measure the rate of work after lessons
5. calculate the difference
6. Rinse, repeat with another developer

I'm seeking funding for these lessons as we speak, so they might cost 
volunteers from melbourne-pug either very little, or nothing, Anyone 
interested in giving it a try?

One thing that appears to distinguish the Alexander Technique is that 
results stick. It isn't a therapy but a set of skills you learn. Once 
learnt, it seems, these skills aren't easily forgotten. Your back stays 
improved, or even goes on improving, even a year later.

If anyone writes to me privately, what you write will be kept strictly 
private. I'm bound by the code of conduct of the Australian Society of 
Teachers of the Alexander Technique 
(http://www.austat.org.au/teacher-code-of-conduct.htm).

Thanks for listening. More detail and research below if interested.

Background
---

About 20 years ago as a young developer and help desk analyst I had a 
back injury then a repetitive strain injury that between them forced me 
to stop work. Some excellent physiotherapy got me out of severe pain but 
my computing career became patchy for quite a few years while I tried to 
figure out what to do. I was something of a World Wide Web pioneer in 
the UK, writing and designing one of the first legal websites in 
Britain, generating many of the pages statically from an MS Access 
database. But every time I worked at a computing project I went slowly 
downhill again into discomfort and pain.

In 1999 I had Alexander Technique lessons. After a few lessons I felt 
both much better and genuinely excited: there seemed to be a clear 
upward slope even when I went on with my computing. Recovery still took 
many months, but I felt I'd found something that made a big, lasting 
difference at last. That appears to have been Victorinox's experience 
with the Alexander Technique too (http://bit.ly/JoY9uD, pdf) where using 
the Alexander Technique coincided with a 42% decrease in absenteeism 
among their 1000+ staff, many of whom were suffering from RSI.

Between 50% and 75% of computing professionals show some signs of MSDs 
(musculo-skeletal disorders) http://www.deepaksharan.com/cri_intro.html.

Dr Deepak Sharan, a world authority on repetitive strain injuries, now 
uses Alexander Technique as part of his Sharan Protocol for treating 
Repetitive Strain Injuries. Using the AT and other mind-body work like 
Feldenkrais and Yoga has improved his results from 60% up to 95% and 
beyond. (Symposium on current research into RSIs in Canberra two weeks ago.)

We know from research in the British Medical Journal that 6 Alexander 
Technique lessons eases chronic back pain by 48% and keeps it eased for 
at least a year (http://bit.ly/bAKmAA.)

So the most obvious reasons why Alexander Technique (AT) lessons should 
improve efficiency are time off sick with back pain, headaches and 
repetitive strain injuries (see below for background .) But AT also 
encourages a way of thinking and moving that is more open, more creative 
and less exhausting. That's what got me excited in my first lessons and 
made me want to train to be an Alexander teacher.

An average man takes 2 days off sick with back pain every year, an 
average woman 2.6. One person in 10 has 36 days of back pain each year 
(B F Walker et al., chargeable study called Low Back Pain in Australian 
Adults: The Economic Burden.)

If a developer takes 4 days off sick in a year, then the chances are 
high that 6 Alexander Technique lessons would cost less than the time 
off work they save the business in the following year. The more time off 
they take with back pain, the more the Alexander Technique saves. In 
other words 6 lessons would save the developer's employer money as well 
as helping the developer. 
http://www.back-pain-self-help.com/back-pain-relief-saves-money.html.

This doctor, a pain management specialist, became impressed by the 
Alexander Technique after it slowly but surely reduced his wife's 
migraines, without recurrence:
http://bodylearning.buzzsprout.com/382/5617-a-physician-talks-about-the-role-of-the-alexander-technique-in-pain-management 
He began using the Alexander Technique in his own practice to help his 
patients manage their pain.

Best wishes,

Nick


Background
---



Although there is no medical research available, Victorinox 
(http://bit.ly/JoY9uD, pdf) recently had a wonderful piece of success 
with the Alexander Technique when they were trying to reduce the 
instance of RSIs among their factory workers. Absenteeism in a workforce 
of over 1000 went down by 42% in five years with the help of just one 
Alexander Technique teacher.

We also know anecdotally that it eases and often completely eliminates 
headache, migraine and chronic tension. In my experience it also helps 
me to work more calmly and efficiently. I stop fighting myself 
physically and mentally when I'm paying attention to how I move and think.



-- 

Logo 	Nick Mellor1300 485 114
Alexander Technique Teacher and IT Consultant
Villa Rosa, 5 Campbell Street, Newstead, VIC, 3462
http://www.back-pain-self-help.com

                    hand-written initials

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/melbourne-pug/attachments/20120612/a725bd13/attachment.html>