Software systems rule our world. My regular newsletter explores the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming.
Friday 9th February - Realising that the Struggle is Real
If you've followed the story of Maxine Chambers in the Unicorn Project, then you know it's not a simple "10x engineer saves the day" engineering tale of derring-do. It's a struggle; it's hard for Maxine. Her story starts with an effective demotion because she's taken the blame (or been pinned) for an outage. The rest of the book explores the toxic culture at the fictional company Parts Unlimited. We learn about the people, the places, the feelings and that elusive thing 'culture' that the various characters experience as they try to turn around another failing software project.
The Unicorn Project and the Phoenix Project before it are significant books because they don't just focus on the work that the characters are doing but also on their home lives and the impact that stressful software projects have not just on employees but also on their families.
The Unicorn Project probably had the most significant impact of all the books I've read in the last year or two. It made me say, " YES! FINALLY, SOMEONE HAS CALLED OUT TOXIC BEHAVIOUR!" Gene Kim has accurately described the struggle of being a dedicated developer working for a company that probably doesn't fully appreciate their dedication.
I've been so inspired that I'm now writing my own piece of fiction, which examines the strains and stresses placed on families and friendships by tough, demanding jobs in software engineering. If you want to find out more, you can go here. Let me know what you think of the idea!
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND: I've been navigating the choppy waters of logging this week. What do you do when someone else thinks their logging is fine, and you think it sucks?
Have a great weekend,
-- Richard
Can Our Decisions Always Work Out for the Best?
Published on February 5, 2024
Or “No Correct Solutions: How Engineering Actually Happens” I’m currently training for a marathon, so I’m out at stupid-o-clock in the morning to get in a training run before work. However, this gives me time to listen to some stunning podcasts. This morning, I listened to the CoRecursive podcast with Greg Wilson about his views… Read More »Can Our Decisions Always Work Out for the Best?
The Human Software
Software systems rule our world. My regular newsletter explores the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming.
Greg Wilson of Software Carpentry fame knows how to write a headline. His recent talk Cocaine and Conway's Law is a mine of brilliant ideas and books to add to your reading list. They talk invested me immediately through his excoriation of Mark Andreessen's "Techno Optimist Manifesto" as a part of the Peter Thiel/Elon Musk narrative - work harder and longer, fix all problems via tech. Conway's Law, for those who are unfamiliar is the implicit link between social organisation of a company and...
The Horizon Post Office Scandal is one of the biggest IT failures in recent times, directly responsible for thirteen of the wrongly accused taking their own lives after prosecutions were brought against them. There is a highly technical deep dive into the findings made by Computer Weekly in this incredible Corecursive podcast episode. It is worth a detailed listen if you want to understand how this could come about and what systemic failings caused it to be covered up for so long. Software...
Working in software you get to see some pretty stupid stuff. And I mean crazy, stupid stuff. Decisions that float down from on high from multiple disparate spheres of influence - sales teams, other business units or just vice-presidents with a Great New Idea[tm] or a pet project. The narrative goes a little like this - the important people get to make choices and us techies have to live with consequences them. Sometimes these decisions are on a whim, an industry hype, a desperate attempt to...