The field of software development has no shortage of metaphors. There’s engineering, construction, and manufacturing to name a few. Since no metaphor does a perfect job of capturing the essence of what making software is all about, I always enjoy exploring new ones to see what else they can teach us.
Todd Hoff, who writes the fantastic High Scalability Blog, recently linked to a series of posts on his personal site that adds a new metaphor to the mix: food service. Hoff details some of the lessons we can learn about software from chef Gordon Ramsay (of Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares fame). He gives an extensive list of cooking and restaurant business lessons learned from the shows and leaves it as an exercise for the reader to fill in the software metaphors. As a fan of Ramsay’s television shows, I was drawn to this concept of extending what he has to say to software. I want to expand upon Hoff’s first bullet item:
Quality can never be compromised. Let nothing slide.
In the software business it is too often the case that quality is the first thing to slide. How often have you heard some variation of “Due to time pressure we went with a quick and dirty solution”? Such an idea is disturbing in any kitchen. In the kitchens of the caliber of restaurant that chefs like Ramsay operate it would be unheard of.
However in software and food service alike there is a range of expected and acceptable levels of quality. Many of us eat every day at establishments that provide a lesser quality product in exchange for increased speed and lower price. Likewise many of us work in organizations that make the same trade offs in the software that they deliver.
I would like to think that Ramsay is right and quality really can never be comprised. The reality is otherwise. It helps though to remember what kind of software you aspire to create while you are making those compromises. Are you providing a delicious healthy meal or a fast food burger?
- High Scalability - Robert Scoble’s Rules for Successfully Scaling Startups
- Todd Hoff - Gordon Ramsay On Software
- Todd Hoff - Gordon Ramsay’s Lessons for Software Take Two
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