Frequently Asked Questions
Concepts from The Engineering Tax and scale by subtraction, plus answers to common engineering leadership questions.
Beamer Concepts
When to Modularize: The Christensen Timing Framework
What is the Christensen Timing Framework?
What Is Connascence and Why Coupling Choices Have a Cost
What is connascence in software architecture?
How Conway's Law Affects Your Software Architecture
How does Conway's Law affect software design?
How to Show Leadership the Cost of Today's Shortcuts
How does the fast path actually happen?
What Is the Decoupling Point for Software Companies
What is the Decoupling Point?
How Modules Should Communicate in a Clean Architecture
What is a Domain Interface Contract?
Efficiency vs Automation: What's the Difference
What is the difference between efficiency and automation?
How Estimation Deviation Reveals Hidden Problems
What is Estimation Deviation?
Why Flexible Interfaces Destroy Modularity
Why are flexible interfaces dangerous?
How Hero Culture Destroys Engineering Efficiency
What is the Hero Cycle in engineering teams?
How to Find the Right Places to Split a Monolith
How do you find boundaries in a monolithic system?
What Is the Rule of the Bolt in Modular Architecture
What is the Rule of the Bolt?
How Maintenance Work Depreciates Your Engineering Skills
How does maintenance work affect an engineer's career?
The Real Cost of Software Maintenance vs Building
How much does software maintenance really cost?
Why Every Software Module Needs a Human Owner
Why does every module need an owner?
State vs Status: What Engineering Leaders Should Report
What is the difference between State and Status?
Why Story Points Fail as a Communication Tool
Why are story points a bad metric?
How to Extract Modules Without Wasting Millions
Why do strangler fig extractions usually fail?
What Is the Sync Tax in Software Development
What is the Sync Tax in software development?
What Real Automation Means vs Task Mechanisation
What is the difference between automation and mechanisation?