[theamk]

the key idea of this seems to be:

> if developers collectively insisted on pair programming [...] they could effectively shield themselves from individual metric tracking. Because there would be no such thing as individual programming effort.

This does not follow. Today, if management wants to measure productivity, they'll see how many points per sprint (or features per month etc..) does programmer do. In pair programming, they could do exactly the same, but only adding half of total ticket's points to each of participants.

This means misguided managers would still be able to calculate per-person points, and harass people if they are not doing enough. But now there will be a new reality: working with slower person means your own performance also decreases. Choosing a pair will be a strategic game, lest you face the management's wraith. But on the other hand, people who are not very fast would be able to scrape by, as long as they are paired with fast performer often enough.