Metrics: mitigating the cobra effect

At some point in history when the British ruled India, the colonial government were concerned about the number of venomous cobras. No one likes to be bitten by a poisonous snake, right? They decided to put a bounty on every dead cobra. Intended effect was that people would capture and kill the snakes reducing the population of cobras. However, another thing happened. People started to breed cobras intentionally, so they could  kill them and receive the bounty. When the colonists learned about this, they stopped the reward program. Now with the cobra’s not having any value the breeders released them....

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Sustainable change requires architecture of technology and organization

A desire to improve. Each organization I have met is searching for new ways to do better. A higher quality of their product. Optimize their process to deliver software quicker. A caveat however is that organizations are typically focused on technology. Learning new skills, introducing new tools. Yes, they have their benefits. They can make your product better or improve the process. However, if you are solely focusing on the technology you only reap part of the benefits. In worst case you are even actively harm the organization.  Making the technology process more sustainable  Nicole Forsgren, the lead researcher of the State of DevOps reports, puts it in this...

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Improving the quality of software delivery utilizing technology, process and people

Each organization involved in creating software eventually has a need to deliver that software. It is what we call the software delivery process. Typically, software delivery starts at the moment that a developer has written code locally and wants to publish it. Or, as Martin Fowler puts it: From the developer finishing the feature to getting that feature into production. At Qxperts, we have a more holistic view on software delivery.

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Three Leadership Responsibilities

Last week I wrote about the – to me – incomplete Architect Vacancy. The reactions I have received were amazing to read. I am incredibly happy that many people agree with the need for socio-technical characteristics in an architect. Some reactions also, rightfully, commented that it is something that is assessed during interview processes. For example, by asking and evaluating experiences of the candidates. Although I genuinely applaud that these things are asked, I do find it isn’t enough. And after some tinkering, I found out what was bothering me.

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The incomplete architect vacancy

I find LinkedIn a great medium. Of course, It has its downfalls, but I check it out a couple of times a day. Often, LinkedIn is suggesting me a career opportunity or I have a message from a recruiter. Although I am not looking for a new job, I am really happy at Xebia currently, I do find it interesting to read the vacancy. Especially when it is concerning an Enterprise Architect role, as they make me raise my eyebrows every time. To me, something is fundamentally wrong in the characteristics companies are looking for in an Architect. Before I...

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