Earlier quoted context omitted.
Come on, you know me better than that. In this case, the comment fit the conversation. The original comment was a short, pithy, and rather sarcastic one that was, nonetheless, correct. They pointed out that we need to write higher-Quality software, in order to give folks like the NSO people fewer “hooks.” The NSO folks are smart, dedicated people, that, in other circumstances, we would admire for their creativity and…
I don’t think you’ll find anyone who would disagree with the premise that we should improve software quality. Yes, even the people who value iteration speed and shipping. All things being equal, better quality is always better, because of course it is. The problem arises when all things are not equal, and something needs to give. Perfect quality is generally not attainable or even desirable, because it sacrifices thi…
But I feel that the root cause is attitude and encouragement. Sort of “the wolf you feed” kind of thing.
That’s not really something that can be addressed by technology or even education.
That’s the kind of thing that we handle with social infrastructure. Peer pressure, cultural norms, “tribal knowledge,” etc.
In my mind, the best way to approach that, is by contributing small, almost “throwaway” human-interaction-level “course corrections.” We set the examples we want others to follow, and talk about why we do stuff, as opposed to always making it about how.
Some of the most valuable lessons that I learned about Quality, in my career, were offhand comments, made by folks that lived Quality, and demonstrated the required mindset.