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The Human Dimension of Software Engineering

The Human Dimension of Software Engineering

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principles

Be good on people and hard on ideas

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This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series principles

Intelligence is not enough

A high IQ does not automatically translate to good ideas. It helps, but it’s not sufficient. Smart people generate large volumes of ideas; some are good, but most are terrible.

Successful people do not rely only on their ideas. They surround themselves with friends, partners, and colleagues who can come up with better ideas and give open and unfiltered feedback, calling bad what is bad and good what is good.

Feedback and an open mind are essential for even the most talented entrepreneurs. They need to hear loud and clear if something seems off, and they need someone who can point that out with no hesitation. ... 

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Every question is a good question

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This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series principles

Let’s play make-believe. You are in a meeting with several people; each of them is an expert in different facets of the topic. The discussion is strategically important, stakes are high, but you realize that some aspects of what is being said are unclear to you. A lingering feeling enters your thoughts; you wonder if you are the only one, or if everyone is puzzled by the same thing, and they are just not saying anything. You look around, and everyone seems to be immersed in the discussion. Fear that you might be the only one not understanding creeps in. ... 

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An enemy lurking on your tech career path

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Passion is what drives engineers

People land in the software engineering world for many reasons. Passion for technology is almost always on that list. Technology changes constantly, and coders have to learn new languages, frameworks, libraries, tools, and methodologies, consistently throughout their careers. The energy that pushed engineers to learn throughout their careers is fueled by the same passion they felt when they first chose to join software development.

If you are a coder, you most likely know what I am talking about. Remember that feeling of discovery and wonder for a new language, algorithm, solution, or concept? Remember the sense of enlightenment when something all in a sudden went from obscure to making sense? If you have been in the industry even a few months, you most likely had that magical feeling many times over. ... 

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Hope is not a strategy.

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This entry is part 6 of 8 in the series principles

In the tech world, it is hard work to craft strategies. We rarely have all the needed information; we don’t know what will happen in the future, and everything changes all the time. Despite the difficulty, we need to decide a course of action. It feels more like an art than a science and takes determination, courage, knowledge, experience, and passion.

It is tempting to say “…and hopefully X will happen…” when working on a strategy. When you hear those words, perk up and recall this principle: Hope is not a strategy. ... 

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Assumption is the Evil Mother of All Mistakes

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This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series principles

Our lives are full of facts that we have to presume true. If we tried to verify every single truth, we would end up paralyzed, constantly checking and re-checking everything, like a mental patient with a debilitating case of OCD.

Certainty is a spectrum

Certainty is a spectrum, and knowing where a given fact falls on the spectrum is the difference between good assumptions and bad assumptions.

When I walk, I assume that the ground that I am going to step on will not collapse. If I had to verify that fact, I would not be able to walk and I would spend my life sitting on a chair or testing the floor in front of me. ... 

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