Quality Software Management
by Gerald M. Weinberg · first published 1991
43% recommend57% neutral
High-quality software demands high-quality management. That's the subject of Quality Software Management, a four-volume series that has grown out of acclaimed author Gerald M. Weinberg's forty-year love affair with computers.
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…exercises there are designed to get you to think about and grow in the situation that you are currently in, so the book will be a perennial. I'd add that Weinberg also produced a four-volume series, 'Quality Software Management', where he sums up all he learned about project management in his programming, management and consulting careers. He later republished the material in a series of smaller eBooks [0] at LeanPub. I know…
on “Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?” ↗…Software Engineering Series" from the early-mid-90's. I think it's an independent formulation of the same concept. The volume most concerned with it is Vol4 "Anticipating Change" http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Software-Management-Anticipati... The whole series is definitely worth reading.
on “Technical Debt” ↗As physical books, 'Becoming a Technical Leader', 'Quality Software Management, vols 1-4' and others condensed Jerry Weinberg's experiences as a software developer, manager, and consultant down to practical, thoughtful suggestions for managing software projects by managing yourself…
on “On the Unhappiness of Software Developers” ↗- Pragmatic Programmer, From Journeyman To Master - Code Complete 2nd Ed. - Quality Software Management Vol 1-4, by Gerald M. Weinberg I'd also throw in: Code Reading - The Open Source Perspective
on “Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?” ↗…thinking in the work that he did. The two works that come to mind in view of your question are 'How To Become a Technical Leader', focused on the individual manager and their team, and the four-volume 'Quality Software Management', focused on both the manager and the organization.
on “A Lifetime of Systems Thinking” ↗…Dr.Weinberg (he'd prefer 'Jerry' though) has an entire sub-genre of really useful books on humans doing software development. Three other favorites: 'How to Become a Technical Leader', the four-volume 'Quality Software Management', and the click-bait-titled but terrific 'The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving & Getting Advice Successfully'. He joined IBM in the 50's, led the design of the telemetry system for NASA's Mercury…
on “The Psychology of Software Teams” ↗This is similar to (but a bit more specific than) the hierarchy Weinberg lays out in his Quality Software Management series. In his mind, a level 0 ("oblivious") software developer doesn't even know they're developing software. They write code to solve problems. Think accountant scripting spreadsheet to get a sense…
on “The Three Types of Development” ↗…an executive whose financial responsibility exceeds X dollars." - Gerald Weinberg's 'First Principle of Financial Management' and 'Second Rule of Failure Prevention' [1] [1] 'First-Order Measurement', Quality Software Management, Volume 2, Gerald Weinberg, Dorset House Publishing, 1993
on “How a lawyer, mechanic, and engineer blew open an auto scandal” ↗Developers can acquire 'real manager' skills. Jerry Weinberg, from volume 2 of 'Quality Software Management" "In the four decades I've spent in the software business, I've learned that there are three fundamental abilities needed to do a quality job of managing software engineering: * "the ability to understand…
on “What we've learned about hiring engineering managers” ↗…also have to be mediated by their own responsibilities to pay the bills, take care of their families, and so on. [0] An Introduction to General Systems Thinking, Weinberg [1] 'First-Order Measurement', Quality Software Management, Volume 2, Gerald Weinberg, Dorset House Publishing, 1993
on “Powerless investors vote overwhelmingly to oust Mark Zuckerberg as chairman” ↗We can't control everything, but we can control or reactions. I believe that is what Derek is trying to get across, even if he didn't quite state that outright. I'm reading Quality Software Management Volume 1 Systems Thinking by Gerald M. Weinberg. Page 111' 7.3 It's not the event that counts, it's your reaction to the event... Whenever there is a [i]human decision point[/i] in the system, it's not…
on “Everything is my fault” ↗…executive whose financial responsibility exceeds X dollars." - Gerald Weinberg's 'First Principle of Financial Management' and 'Second Rule of Failure Prevention' [1] [1] 'First-Order Measurement', Quality Software Management, Volume 2, Gerald Weinberg, Dorset House Publishing, 1993
on “Blame for 'switch from hell' falls heavily on one GM engineer” ↗…executive whose financial responsibility exceeds X dollars." - Gerald Weinberg's 'First Principle of Financial Management' and 'Second Rule of Failure Prevention' [1] [1] 'First-Order Measurement', Quality Software Management, Volume 2, Gerald Weinberg, Dorset House Publishing, 1993
on “SolarWinds CEO blames intern for password leak” ↗Two remarks: 1. During a recent Scrum Master course, I was shown this picture[1]. It comes from Gerald Weinberg's "Quality Software Management: Vol. 1 System Thinking". Some people will only believe multitasking degrades performance if you have a reference to material, so I like to keep that graph around. 2. In a recent talk by Joe Justice…
on “The Myth of Multitasking (2008)” ↗Gerald Weinberg has a bit of an anthropological take (due to his wife being an anthropologist, IIRC) in his Quality Software Management series.
on “How to drive away your best engineers” ↗