Building Human Software Systems

A couple of years ago, I was trying to make sense of modern engineering practices in corporate settings. I’d been reading books, writing articles on this blog, and sharing them on LinkedIn, but I was trying to connect the dots. I wanted to create something that would make sense for me and for others.

Because I couldn’t adequately express how I felt about engineering in modern-day corporate settings, and I couldn’t also find a way of making the points I wanted to make without providing a lot of context, eventually, I decided to write a novel.

And NOW….

It’s FINISHED. And it’ll be published on Leanpub and Amazon in September. More details on the Human Software website.

Human Software: A Life in IT - the Novel by Richard W. Bown

What’s On This Blog?

Modern businesses are built on complex software systems. Teams are required to deploy and manage these systems. Teams of talented, unique individuals must work and collaborate closely day after day, week in and week out, sometimes at night or on the weekends.

In this blog, I explore the human factors at play in tech organisations, from development to operations, architecture to organisation. Looking at how humans survive and thrive and fight and fall apart under the unique stresses and strains that come to bear in the ‘software industry’.

Whether you’re an engineer or a manager, if you work in operations or development, agilist or project manager, contractor or employee, you should recognise some of the tropes and a lot of problems and opportunities highlighted in these articles.