Build, Elements of an Effective Software Organization

by Rebecca Murphey, Otto Hilska

Building software is hard. Running an effective software engineering organization is harder. Build: Elements of an Effective Software Organization is a guide to help good software teams get better and remain effective as the organization grows and evolves.

Build is a blueprint for continuous improvement. It zeroes in on three key ingredients: a relentless focus on business outcomes, actionable insights to boost the productivity of your software teams, and a thoughtful approach to improving the experience of building software at your company.

Whether you’re a leader, a manager, or anyone invested in seeing your team or your organization improve, Build provides the roadmap you need to drive meaningful, impactful progress.

Genres: Software, Business, Management

108 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Ben Stiefel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great little handbook and reference for engineering leaders who want to be able to measure and improve their org's delivery. It doesn't answer everything, but has a lot of resources and tactics for getting going. If you use their accompanying software, it's of course a good fit, but you don't *absolutely* need to for that. They do a good job of giving you a choice of frameworks and approaches.

The best practices are (or should be) industry standard, and the resources they list for each chapter are excellent. I was proud that I've already read most of them, which would explain why a lot of this felt familiar to me.

If you're looking for a guide to get you started with getting your teams to deliver better, this is a great one. If you're already experienced, this is a good, quick book to keep on hand so you can quickly reference things if you forget.

[Damian Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good approaches and summary to modern software development, references some good further reading topics and I picked up two new frameworks I was not aware of which is a win.

This book clearly describes what I would consider to be the bare minimum required to be an effective software organisation.

[Joao O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many business books are too lengthy and repetitive. This book is the opposite: short, concise and very actionable. A must read if you work with or build products for engineering teams.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. The authors succinctly present at least the 80% of what matters in software engineering management. Despite that, it is not a long book. What works for the book is coverage. Each chapter closes with an outstanding list of references, most of which I have, and have read. What works against it is an almost telegraphic approach. People unfamiliar with the material may not realize how much breadth is covered in the book, and how much depth is summarized in any particular section.

[Paul Nikitochkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The practices in the book are well-organized and work together effectively. The detailed information provided is concise and easy to understand. I found the guidance to be helpful, informative, and practical.

I highly recommend this book for consultants to share with their clients, or for technical leaders to share with their stakeholders. It provides a clear understanding of the problems that technical leaders solve and how they impact the business.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise and pragmatic compilation of insights about building successful & healthy software development orgs.