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You’re Not Managing a Team of Software Engineers, You’re Managing Writers

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Re: You’re Not Managing a Team of Software Engineers, You’re Managing Writers

#3
No youre managing a team of software engineers, one skill they have is writing.

The product isnt the text. The product is the entire system designed to keep the text alive, functional, reasonably error free all in a relatively unpredictable environment.

We definitely need to keep considering how other professions manage the unpredictable nature of their work so we can learn. Im just not sure this narrative suits that goal.

Re: You’re Not Managing a Team of Software Engineers, You’re Managing Writers

#5

I do wonder how a TV show runner of some experience would handle a software production. There are a lot of moving parts that are not unlike what they deal with.

There is no technical debt in TV production. That alone changes many things. You don't need to care how you arrived at the result or how "maintainable" it is.

Re: You’re Not Managing a Team of Software Engineers, You’re Managing Writers

#6
post #5

I do wonder how a TV show runner of some experience would handle a software production. There are a lot of moving parts that are not unlike what they deal with.

There is no technical debt in TV production. That alone changes many things. You don't need to care how you arrived at the result or how "maintainable" it is.

I thought that "the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs." was the very definition of tehnical debt - which took 40 years to finally resolve.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2018/05/30/solo-star-...

Re: You’re Not Managing a Team of Software Engineers, You’re Managing Writers

#7
post #5

I do wonder how a TV show runner of some experience would handle a software production. There are a lot of moving parts that are not unlike what they deal with.

There is no technical debt in TV production. That alone changes many things. You don't need to care how you arrived at the result or how "maintainable" it is.

Plot debt? I could actually see that describing some shows...

Re: You’re Not Managing a Team of Software Engineers, You’re Managing Writers

#9
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no technical debt in TV production. That alone changes many things. You don't need to care how you arrived at the result or how "maintainable" it is.

Plot debt? I could actually see that describing some shows...

The Stargate SG-1 writers regretted the "3 shots from a zat-gun disintegrates" thing, and had zat guns only ever hit stuff twice for the rest of the show after they realized the mistake they'd made.

The problem was introduced to solve a plot issue in one episode - they needed a way for the team to get rid of the bodies they were leaving behind on a spaceship in one episode.

Re: You’re Not Managing a Team of Software Engineers, You’re Managing Writers

#10
post #8
post #4

You should not manage anything unless you yourself did that job successfully for 10 years.

Best not build anything that didn't exist ten years ago then.

Think of it as: "Don't manage software engineers unless you were a software engineer for X years"
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