In high tech systems software development, there can be a significant gap between the expectations of leadership to “deliver”, and the software organization ability to meet these expectations. In response to sometimes unrealistic deadlines, software teams feel forced to offer ‘shortcut’ solutions. These shortcuts are either expensive to maintain or can lead to growing the organization at an unhealthy pace. Often the dialogues around what is necessary and what is realistic are emotional.

In this talk Dirk-Jan speaks about ‘software essentials for executives’ to help executives avoid costly mistakes and ‘executive essentials for engineers’ to provide engineers with communication tools that may help executives make better decisions.