The Mindset

Every once in a while I am involved in a discussion about optimization vs. creativity in the software development process. Most of these discussions are very passionate.  They always start with a concrete idea for optimizing the development process in one way or another, and they usually end up with the all-time favorite “it will stand in the way of our creativity” argument.

I’ve personally heard that argument on just about any process improvement idea there is: from unit testing to improving project management, from design reviews to lessons learned meetings, from defect tracking to continuous integration. There is always someone who claims such a process will limit his creative freedom.

In a recent article Craig Fitzpatrick talks about Creative Execs vs. Optimizer Execs:

“The truth is however, that swapping leadership styles is not the answer – augmenting creative leadership with optimization leadership is.

Without realizing that, it becomes a this way OR that way fight between the creatives vs. the optimizers.”

Craig’s “formula” of augmenting creativity with optimization is a clearly right. Optimization does not replace creativity in software development. It can’t. As Craig says, software development is a creative process. In that sense, it is different than a manufacturing process where, at some point, the production process becomes mechanical and does not involve creativity (at least not in the degree we are used to in software development).

But I would like to bring an additional perspective to this discussion: real optimization enables creativity.

Real optimization doesn’t take away creative freedom. On the contrary: optimizing the development process leaves you with more time and resources to innovate. Real optimization enables you to spend your time on things that matter, rather than struggling through the development process.

Real optimization adds a long-term value to the company, because it provides you the bandwidth needed to be creative and innovative.

Being innovative is extremely difficult when you are always in crisis mode. Coming up with new ideas is almost impossible when you are up to your neck in boring debugging sessions. Creating a new vision is not easy when you struggle to understand the code of your current products. Conceiving a new product is not trivial to do when you spend your time managing customer’s complaints.

Innovation and creativity should be reflected in the organizational atmosphere. They should not be the responsibility of a small number of people. The most successful organizations are the ones who are innovative and creative at all levels. But for the entire organization to be innovative, you need to clear the ground from as much of the innovation-killer stuff as possible.

For me this is the true nature of optimization.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 5th, 2006 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Management, Creativity, Optimization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.