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10x Software Development

Numerous studies have found 10:1 differences in productivity and quality among individuals and even among teams. This blog contains Steve McConnell's thoughts about how to move toward the "10" side of that 10:1 ratio.
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Scrum Trainer / Senior Fellow Position Available

If you're a highly qualified Scrum Professional, check out our opening for a Scrum Trainer / Senior Fellow. Here is a brief description (follow the link for more details): Travel the World, Help Teams Adopt Scrum, and Reach Their Full Potential Share your...

  1. Posted on April 17, 2013 6:38:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development

2013 ECSE Discussion Topics Posted

I host an executive discussion group in the Seattle area called the Executive Council for Software Excellence (ECSE). We meet monthly at our offices in Bellevue, usually on the second Monday of each month. The group focuses on enterprise-level software development issues. This is a great opportunity to network and compare challenges and solutions with other executives who, we have found, tend to be wrestling with the same issues you are. To keep the discussions focused, the group...

  1. Posted on April 1, 2013 8:00:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. executives, executive, ecse

Software Project Archaeology

A colleague asked me the following question: Assume you were asked to assess a software development team from outside of the organization (that might occur as due diligence or some other context), and you had full access to all internal artifacts of the organization, but you were not allowed to talk directly with anyone from inside. To what degree could you evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the software team just from reviewing just their work, without...

  1. Posted on March 13, 2013 6:53:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. Consulting, requirements, software development, classic mistakes, Construx Software, Team Productivity

New White Papers Now Available

We've recently posted more new white papers on our website. These are free to members (and membership is free). 5 Things Every Software Executive Should Know About Scrum The success (or failure) of Scrum is all in how’s it’s adopted. This white paper explores five key things software executives should understand when considering a Scrum adoption. It summarizes what Scrum can and cannot do and provides advice to software executives on how they can support the adoption...

  1. Posted on December 21, 2012 5:29:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. Innovation, Agile, Scrum, requirements, white paper, white papers, Articles

Construx Executive Summit 2012

  A rare opportunity for top software executives to compare software development challenges and solutions with a highly select group of executive peers, hosted by Steve McConnell with software thought leaders Mike Cohn, Stuart Crabb, David Anderson, Karl Wiegers, John Clifford, and others. Space is Limited--Register...

  1. Posted on June 20, 2012 1:22:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. summit, Management, executive, events

Technical Debt Webinar–Archive Version Now Available

Last week’s webinar on technical debt is now available for download.

  1. Posted on September 27, 2011 1:42:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. Methods & Processes, Testing & QA, Design, Maintenance, Webinar, Construction

Managing Technical Debt: Free Webinar

I’ll be giving a free webinar on Managing Technical Debt on September 21, 2011 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. Here’s the registration link: http://adtmag.com/webcasts/2011/08/construx-managing-technical-debt.aspx?partnerref=con5 Here’s a brief overview:“Technical Debt” refers to delayed technical work that is incurred when technical short cuts are taken,...

  1. Posted on September 8, 2011 5:15:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. Methods & Processes, Testing & QA, Design, Maintenance, Webinar, Construction, events

Construx Executive Summit 2011: Software Thought Leaders

Our 2011 Software Executive Summit registration is now open. We have an early bird registration special of $1000 off through August 15. Register today! Our speaker focus this year is Software Thought Leaders, and once again we have an amazing lineup. We have the father of evolutionary development (Tom Gilb), inventor of the wiki (Ward Cunningham), creator of the CMM and People CMM (Bill Curtis), creator of the 4+1 architecture view and RUP (Philippe...

  1. Posted on July 29, 2011 8:51:AM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. Management, events

10 Deadly Sins of Software Estimation: Free Webinar

I’ll be giving a free webinar on the 10 Deadly Sins of Software Estimation on April 28, 2011 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. Here’s a link to sign up for it: http://adtmag.com/webcasts/2011/03/construx-10-deadly-sins-of-software-estimation.aspx?partnerref=con4. Here’s the overview: The average project overruns its budget and schedule estimates by 50-80...

  1. Posted on April 12, 2011 12:36:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. Presentation, estimation, Management, Webinar

I’ll be Giving a Keynote at the Scrum Alliance’s Scrum Gathering May 17, 2011

The Scrum Alliance Scrum Gathering conference is in Seattle this year, May 16-18, 2011. I’ll be giving the morning keynote on the second day. I’m excited to be able to share some of the details of Construx’s experiences helping organizations move to organization-wide Scrum. Here are the details about my talk: KEYNOTE: THE JOURNEY TO ORGANIZATION-WIDE SCRUM Scrum practitioners know what a successful...

  1. Posted on March 30, 2011 6:55:PM by Steve McConnell to 10x Software Development
  2. Presentation, Methods & Processes, Agile, events