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dgb23 makes an astute observation that the market (demand side) seems to undervalue SW robustness => writing robust SW has poor ROI => not a viable strategy, pr

by Radim 5y ago

dgb23 makes an astute observation that the market (demand side) seems to undervalue SW robustness => writing robust SW has poor ROI => not a viable strategy, product will be outcompeted => company goes bust => DON'T DO IT. That's a gross simplification of course. But even simplified thought experiments can be useful. I'm puzzled by your reply though, about "having a good time" and "get a manager with high standards". How is that relevant to dbg23's point?

leroman 5y ago
My observation is made from experiences, you are suggesting that if something is good for the market then that's where the market will go.. Unfortunately my experience is that decisions are made by individuals who have their own ORG politics to play out.. they don't really care about this "market".. > I'm puzzled by your reply though, about "having a good time" and "talking to a manager". How is that relevant to dbg23's point? I believe dbg23's point is coming from frustration of what needs to happen to get to this "success" as a software engineer ("to create higher quality software"), if one side believes it's good enough to have "meh quality software - but good sales team", I was sharing my thought on how to deal with this frustration..
- dgb23 5y ago
  I appreciate your response, above. For me it is less about employers and more about clients, and it is less about frustration and more about an open challenge. So your advice can maybe translated as "fire your customer". And I partly agree. There are two sides though. For one, as I'm growing and learning, I see more potential to make things better, more robust, more usable and long lasting. On the other hand we (small team) have a principle that we don't sell things our clients don't need, and we make that very clear and have said "no" in the past to adhere to that principle. So it is really a balancing act of really understanding and communicating what technical and design quality means vs. understanding how providing it will positively impact our relationships and their goals. I've been thinking more and more about this issue in recent years, because I realized that I/we cannot compete on quantity or speed, but rather on trust and quality if that makes sense.

by Radim 5y ago

leroman 5y ago

My observation is made from experiences, you are suggesting that if something is good for the market then that's where the market will go.. Unfortunately my experience is that decisions are made by individuals who have their own ORG politics to play out.. they don't really care about this "market".. > I'm puzzled by your reply though, about "having a good time" and "talking to a manager". How is that relevant to dbg23's point? I believe dbg23's point is coming from frustration of what needs to happen to get to this "success" as a software engineer ("to create higher quality software"), if one side believes it's good enough to have "meh quality software - but good sales team", I was sharing my thought on how to deal with this frustration..

dgb23 5y ago
I appreciate your response, above. For me it is less about employers and more about clients, and it is less about frustration and more about an open challenge. So your advice can maybe translated as "fire your customer". And I partly agree. There are two sides though. For one, as I'm growing and learning, I see more potential to make things better, more robust, more usable and long lasting. On the other hand we (small team) have a principle that we don't sell things our clients don't need, and we make that very clear and have said "no" in the past to adhere to that principle. So it is really a balancing act of really understanding and communicating what technical and design quality means vs. understanding how providing it will positively impact our relationships and their goals. I've been thinking more and more about this issue in recent years, because I realized that I/we cannot compete on quantity or speed, but rather on trust and quality if that makes sense.