Pro Developer - This is Business

So do I have all the answers? Yeah, probably, but that's another conversation entirely (and should you doubt it, you can always take the matter up with our local attack Chihuahua - he has very strong feelings about such things). However, in this particular case, what you should really be questioning is whether or not I have a perspective on the software business that will help improve the things that you truly care about in our industry. And by the strangest of coincidences, I just happen to have some of those as well. But then, I guess you saw that coming, didn't you?

I've been known to talk for hours on end about the specific tactics that we, as professional software developers, can employ to ensure the delivery of a Really Cool Software. In fact, you could say that it's my stock in trade. Today, however, my message is much, much simpler. I'm not talking about bits and bytes here. Okay, in fairness, I never spend much time at all talking about bits and bytes. You guys already know about that stuff, and you don't need me to teach you how to code. What I am talking about, in particular, is perspective, and I deem it a critical issue. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you don't have the proper perspective, you're screwed, and so is your project.

So what's the perspective that I'm promoting here, and how will it help you? Just like the title says. This is business! Forget your technical religions. No one cares! Never mind how cool the app you just coded is. Nobody wants to know! Really! The people who are in a position of power and have the authority to influence the quality of software you deliver live in a completely different world than you do. Until you come to terms with this one simple fact of life, you're going to bang your head against the Corporate Wall for the rest of your career. And worst of all, the software you deliver will suck! Okay, maybe not suck in the eyes of Mere Mortals, but you and I both know that it could be way cooler than your management will let you make it.