A pair situation where one partner has a system knowledge advantage (for whatever reason) is challenging because the relative system knowledge gap might be hardly visible but still needs to be addressed before the pair can move together at any speed. Better pairs therefore address the matter proactively at the beginning of their session. If your co-developer already worked on the issue, appreciate her system knowledge advantage, regardless of your own (perceived) seniority, and let her explain what she already has done and learned. We have heard that some developers with high system knowledge
...more
