Role Models

I’ve long been interested in how people organise themselves (and others) for making software. It’s become clear to me over the years just how much the way things are organised contributes to the relative effectiveness of the delivery of software products (and software for use within products, and services).

More importantly, for me, it’s become clear just how much more joy and fulfilment – you might choose to call it happiness – folks can find in their work when it’s well-organised. When the way the work works is working well (i.e. relatively effectively).

But where are the role models? Who are the individuals that folks can look to find inspiration in how to be well-organised? And more specifically, who are the individuals that folks can look to find inspiration in making an entire business or company “well-organised”?

In business in general we can find lots of role models. Depending on your taste. Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, James Dyson, Bill Gates, Peter Jones, Karren Brady, Ricardo Semler, Jos De Blok. And hundreds of other folks who have demonstrably “walked the walk”.

People naturally look to role models for clues about how to be successful, how to do things well, how to behave. And there are lots of role models in the software sphere – when it comes to writing software. But when it comes to organising for software development, at the company-wide level, I can’t think of even one.

How about you? Have you any interest in the way companies organise for effective software development? Do you see a connection between that and the quality of life at work? And if yes, have you yourself any role models for that?

– Bob