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Software Engineering for CEOs
Photo courtesy of http://mrg.
bz/z9CBmN

Software Engineering for
CEOs
Gabe Hamilton

So, you’re the CEO of a Software Company

a lot of companies are Software companies

Or you’re a Product Manager, Tech Writer, Project
Manager, Implementer…
a critical part of a software ecosystem.

and you’re wondering...
When will it be ready?
*specifically when will Mario Kart 8 be ready.

Or you’re an engineer who needs to Communicate about
software projects.

And engineers forget
We become Director, CTO, CEO and start
wondering, “when will it be done?”
Or we’re thinking about all the technical
details (distributed parallel auto-scaling) and
forget how to explain how software projects
progress.

for solutions see Chapter 2.
Todo: write Chapter 2
Ch 1: The Problem
with Software Projects

Why think about the
problems
instead of just the solutions?

Keep the problem in mind that you
want to solve.
When you’re wondering,
“Do the TPS reports need a new cover
page?”

In Bidness Speak
Begin with the End in mind.
Forests … Trees
Eyes on prizes

Problem #1:
Software is ½*
communication
Programs are super complex.
To change one you need to know how it works.
*where ½ = lots. Other half is rumored to consist of perspiration & inspiration.

Imagine a flowchart
that explains what
1 programmer
wrote today.

Collect each day’s in a book
Add a page
explaining how
it relates to
yesterday’s
flowchart.

Give this book to the new person
Would you like
everyone else’s book
from this month?

Brooks’s law
adding [people] to a late
software project makes it
later
"Nine women can't make a baby in one month."

Communication Paths
1 person
2 people
what was I doing 3
months ago?

Communication Paths
3 people
4 people
3 paths
6 paths

# of Communication Paths
1st person has a path to each of the others
2nd person needs a path to everyone except the 1st, …
4 people = 6 paths = 3 + 2 + 1
5 people = 10 paths = 4 + 3 + 2 + 1
It’s the Summation of 1..N-1 = (N-1 x N) / 2
yay, combinatorial growth

6 people
8 people
15 paths
21 paths?
?
?
?

12 people
20 people
66 paths
190 paths
100 people ~5,000 paths
?
? ?
?

Now wait
We have 65 years of solutions to this problem,
just in software.
Hierarchy, teams, departments; OOP, APIs;
Extreme, Agile, Scrum, Kanban Iterations;
project, product, development - lead, manager,
architects.

Hopefully you have great Processes
You spend all day swimming in them.
Remember:
The underlying problem is still the same.

Does our process help communicate?
...how things work
...what does it do?
...when will it be done?

Ask:
Why do we have this process / organization?
Does it help communicate?
And
Hire Engineers who are good communicators

Because
Software is ½
Communication

a teaser for the next talk, this one is
over
Ch 2: Time, Features,
Quality

Acknowledgements
Image Attributions
CEO cat http://mrg.bz/z9CBmN
Guy at desk http://mrg.bz/zSkLDb
Woman presenting http://mrg.bz/slnIq7
Guy with phone http://mrg.bz/4pqGBY
Mountain http://mrg.bz/taTQ1v
4 books http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/189153
Jargon pic (CC) Gavin Llewellyn.www.onetoomanymornings.co.uk.
Bank
Capitol
MRI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Connectome_extraction_procedure.jpg
Software Engineer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coding_Shots_Annual_Plan_high_res-5.jpg
Flowchart http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Euclid_flowchart_1.png
Single Textbook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Textbook.JPG
Fred Brooks http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederick_Brooks_IMG_2261.jpg

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Software engineering for CEOs ch1

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