If the Phoenix development setup were a product, it would be the worst product ever. — : 370-371
Maxine knows that agility is never free. Over time, without this type of investment, software often becomes more and more difficult to change. There are exceptions, like floating-point math libraries that haven’t changed in forty years—they don’t need to change, because math doesn’t change. But in almost every other domain, especially when you have customers, change is a fact of life. A healthy software system is one that you can change at the speed you need, where people can contribute easily, without jumping through hoops. This is how you make a project that’s fun and worthwhile contributing to, and where you often find the most vibrant communities. — : 1033-1038
“And when that happens,” he continues, “you’ve trapped yourself in a system of work where you can no longer solve real business problems easily anymore—instead, you’re forced to merely solve puzzles all day, trying to figure out how to make your small change, obstructed by your complected system every step of the way. You must schedule meetings with other teams, try to convince them to change something for you, escalate it to their managers, maybe all the way up the chain. “Everything you do becomes increasingly distant from the real business problem you’re trying to solve,” — : 1900-1905
‘technical debt is what you feel the next time you want to make a change.’ — : 1934-1934
They start making a list: Every developer uses a common build environment. Every developer is supported by a continuous build and integration system. Everyone can run their code in production-like environments. Automated test suites are built to replace manual testing, liberating QA people to do higher value work. Architecture is decoupled to liberate feature teams, so developers can deliver value independently. All the data that teams need is put in easily consumed APIs … — : 2389-2392
As Sensei W. Edwards Deming once observed, ‘a bad system will beat a good person every time.’ — : 2418-2419
“Some think it’s about leaders being nice,” Erik guffaws. “Nonsense. It’s about excellence, the ruthless pursuit of perfection, the urgency to achieve the mission, a constant dissatisfaction with the status quo, and a zeal for helping those the organization serves. — : 2426-2428
‘If you can’t depend on the manufacturing workforce to not get hurt on the job, why should you believe anything we say about our quality goals? Or our ability to make you money? Safety is a precondition of work.’” — : 2481-2482
The last thing a QA person wants to hear from a developer they just met is their ideas on how to automate their job away. — : 2689-2690
That afternoon, Maggie comes up with an elegant solution. She decides to move the Data Hub product manager from the Marketing building to a desk right by Maxine starting Monday. In the conference room, Maggie tells him, “You’re the bottleneck. Your top priority now is to make sure any questions that the technology teams have are quickly answered. Nothing else takes priority over that.” He balks and then proceeds to describe all the other demands on his time. Talking with customers, helping sales with negotiations and trying to break them of bad habits, briefing internal executives, working with business operations, arguing with business stakeholders to agree on a product roadmap, escalating things up the chain to get approvals for urgent issues … And way down the list was answering questions from developers. Maxine listens with interest, realizing that no one can get anything done when you’re pulled in that many directions. Maggie also listens patiently, nodding and occasionally asking questions. When he’s done, she says, “If you’re too busy to work with the technology teams, I’ll move you into a pure product marketing role, and you don’t have to move your desk. Right now, I need product managers who are working side by side with the teams who are building what will achieve our most important business objectives. If you still want to be a product manager, I’ll figure out how to clear your plate and get those other responsibilities assigned to someone else. “Don’t give me an answer right now,” Maggie says. “Think about it and let me know first thing Monday morning.” Maxine is impressed. Maggie does not mess around, she thinks. — : 3573-3586
“Ma’am, you’re looking at a renegade group of engineers who want to solve big problems that actually matter to the business. Our attempts to go through the normal channels haven’t worked, so here’s our chance to work directly with the business instead of through technology middle managers. If we succeed, we get credibility. We’d love your endorsement supporting these new ways of working.” Kurt — : 3692-3695
“Left unchecked, Horizon 1 leaders will consume all the resources of the company. They will note correctly that they are the lifeblood of the company, but that’s only true in the short term. There is an instinct to maximize profitability and take cash out of the business instead of reinvesting it. This is the ‘manage to value’ thesis and is the opposite of ‘manage to growth.’ If you want growth, Steve, you must protect Horizons 2 and 3, and any learnings generated there must be spread throughout the company.” — : 4847-4851
“We’ll certainly be testing how much Steve really believes his schtick around how great customer satisfaction and employee engagement will lead to great cash flow.” “You know, — : 5519-5521
“Our future depends on innovation,” he says. “That doesn’t come from process. It comes from people.” — : 5592-5593
They used a technique called Wardley Maps to better localize what parts of various value chains were commodities and should be outsourced, which should be purchased, and which should be kept in-house because they created durable, competitive advantage. They used this exercise to methodically disposition their technology stacks, given the business context. — : 5775-5777