Analysistechnical debtopen sourcesoftware architectureengineering management
Poor Management Produces Bad Software Outcomes
8.0
In July 2019 ETHOS argues that bad software stems primarily from management failures rather than lack of funding or specific technical choices. The article details how large, requirements-heavy projects handed to external teams often meet specifications but fail users, discusses reusability, complexity limits, and knowledge loss, and recommends starting simple, iterating with users, and hiring top engineers to improve outcomes.
Key Points
- 1Blames management practices, not budget, as the primary cause of widely failing software projects
- 2Explains reusability and complexity limits drive product quality and accelerate technical debt accumulation
- 3Advocates starting simple, iterating with users, and hiring top engineers to reduce failures
Scoring Rationale
Strong, actionable industry analysis with clear principles, limited by being an opinion piece from a single source.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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