[backlava]

So do I understand correctly that in this metaphor the poor quality of software is mostly because the practitioners are morons? I need to revisit the creeping complexity in my own projects and try to understand where I used the wrong nailgun, because this seems like a super productive analogy.

[DanielBMarkham]

The joke is that nowhere in this picture is the actual guy who is receiving value from the work, the guy who keeps saying in survey after survey that our work sucks -- the guy paying for the house. We distract ourselves by everything under the sun from the continuous conversation and relationship management with the value receiver necessary to make sure we're doing something that the guy writing the check likes.

Sometimes we're distracted in an angry way "Guys! We need to straighten up and do X!" Sometimes we distract ourselves just because of bright and shiny objects "Wow! Take a look at that!" Sometimes we quibble over seemingly insignificant items. Sometimes we take things that should be important and elevate them to the highest level possible.

But the overall pattern is clear. We want to do anything and everything -- except be joined at the hip into the value stream, which is exactly what our job is.

This was the hard lesson that startups taught me: lots of stuff can be neat, valuable, or worth consideration. But a true professional knows that whatever he is doing, he is doing for another human being - and so he seeks to befriend that person, have a trustworthy relationship, and look out after that person's best interests.

That's not nearly as much fun as flipping bits, and it deals with a lot of messy social and human things.