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> The object isn't to make something (i.e. be productive). It is to be in that wonderful state in which making something is inevitable. In the absence of at le

> The object isn't to make something (i.e. be productive). It is to be in that wonderful state in which making something is inevitable. In the absence of at least some reasonable system (despite its flaws) to recognize a software engineer’s contributions, you’re likely to have a situation where the team as a whole is falling short. Managers will be under pressure to turn up the temperature on the whole team, and the environment will risk becoming more akin to a sweatshop. I’ve seen it firsthand more than once. So I’d wager the contrary to what you suggest here. The measurements are what enable management to keep some greater distance without being a distraction. Creativity might even become inevitable if the right system is in place, but such a thing is not easily accomplished no matter the approach you try. I feel that data trumps the lack of such in this case though. Though this is a nice topic for debate and I’d love to see some more literature or studies on it.

astrobe_ 4y ago
From a programmer's perspective, I'd say "if you want to go faster, release the brakes". So I think the first job of a manager is to "remove the brakes", which implies that they have to find where they are first. A measuring network could help here - and would less likely fall under Goodhart's law.
sidmitra 4y ago
I've been interested in this topic lately, given the economic outlook, which in turn is pressing more and more companies to look at impact, productivity, "doing more with less" Here's some other related links i've looked at before, but i'd be interested in gathering further research on this as well. - SPACE framework, https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3454124 https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3454124 - DORA metrics, https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/devops-sre/using-the-four-keys-to-measure-your-devops-performance https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/devops-sre/using-the-...

astrobe_ 4y ago

From a programmer's perspective, I'd say "if you want to go faster, release the brakes". So I think the first job of a manager is to "remove the brakes", which implies that they have to find where they are first. A measuring network could help here - and would less likely fall under Goodhart's law.

sidmitra 4y ago

I've been interested in this topic lately, given the economic outlook, which in turn is pressing more and more companies to look at impact, productivity, "doing more with less" Here's some other related links i've looked at before, but i'd be interested in gathering further research on this as well. - SPACE framework, https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3454124 https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3454124 - DORA metrics, https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/devops-sre/using-the-four-keys-to-measure-your-devops-performance https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/devops-sre/using-the-...