How I Coach
Refactoring, craftsmanship, and XP practices taught in the most interactive and collaborative way way
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Active Learning
Watching tutorials isn’t enough. You need to practice coding in small steps, get feedback, and build confidence in real-world scenarios.
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Collaborative Practice
Writing better code isn’t a solo effort. I use techniques like ensemble programming and pairing so teams learn better and faster.
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Design Habits
Good design comes from small habits, not big rewrites. You'll learn techniques like safe refactoring, intentional naming, and clean boundaries.
How This Approach Transformed These Teams
You don’t have to take my word for it—developers and teams have applied this approach and seen incredible results. From overcoming legacy code challenges to deploying confidently every week, these success stories highlight how focusing on technical practices lead to real change.
📌 Case Study: From Struggling with TDD to a High-Performing, Refactor-First Team
🚨 The Challenge: Poor Code Quality & Ineffective Collaboration
This team had a strong desire to improve their TDD skills, but they struggled with both team chemistry and code quality. Their daily pairing sessions were ineffective—often resembling shadowing rather than active collaboration—and they lacked a habit of refactoring. The result?
- ❌ Constant rework due to poor design and bugs
- 🐌 Slow delivery cycles because of accumulating tech debt
- 🛑 No habit of refactoring, leading to increasingly messy code
🛠 The Coaching Approach: Learning Hours & Ensembling
Since the team was eager to improve, I introduced Learning Hours, a structured practice designed to help entire teams grow together. We focused on TDD first, using pairing exercises to break bad habits and instill strong-style pairing techniques.
The real breakthrough came when I introduced a legacy code refactoring exercise in an ensemble format. Over five weeks, something clicked:
- ✅ Developers gained confidence in changing code structure
- 🔄 Refactoring became a daily habit instead of an afterthought
- 💬 More design discussions across the team
🚀 The Transformation: A High-Performing, Bug-Free Team
- 🔬 TDD became second nature—tests were written first instinctively
- 🛠 Bug rates dropped—only two defects in production over a year
- 🤝 Pairing became highly effective using strong-style pairing
- 💡 Refactoring became the norm—no longer feared
Their delivery lead noticed the transformation and recognized them as the highest-performing team in their division.
📌 The Takeaway: What This Means for Other Teams
This case study proves that TDD alone isn’t enough. Teams need structured, collaborative learning to fully embrace technical practices. By focusing on refactoring, ensemble programming, and active learning techniques, this team didn’t just improve their TDD skills but their overall effectiveness and mindset.
📌 Want your team to achieve the same results? Start by building strong habits around small steps and collaboration.
What Developers Say About This Approach
Myles Woerner – Technical Director
Steven’s structured coaching transformed how our team approached software development. His Learning Hours created a shared vocabulary and improved collaboration between consultants and client engineers, leading to stronger TDD adoption and a culture of continuous improvement.
Sudeep Moothedath – Engineering Director
The Learning Hours improved our team’s confidence and collaboration, making refactoring and strong design discussions a daily habit. The results? Increased deployment frequency, better test maturity, and a self-correcting team that now drives its own improvement.
Archana Subba – Software Developer
Before Learning Hours, pairing was a challenge. Now, it’s second nature. I’ve gained a new appreciation for TDD and refactoring, and our team has dramatically improved code quality and deployment speed.
Eric Olaya – Software Consultant
Steven’s coaching eliminated inconsistent code quality and made TDD and refactoring a natural part of our process. More importantly, it made coding fun again! Our team became more engaged, collaborative, and high-performing.