7 Habits Of Highly Effective Software

Old school I know but I just can’t help but looking at situations and realizing that the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that Stephen Covey identified in 1989 continue to apply and influence me every day in software development of all things. I didn’t know how I much I was using them them until I noticed that I would mentally remember one almost daily as we go through the decisions we need to make when creating our applications. Loosely applied like this:

Be Proactive > Know what to make, and more importantly what not to make

Begin With the End in Mind > Deliver the 20% that provides 80% of value, then repeat

Put First Things First > Zero defects; take away from, never add to technical debt

Think Win-Win > Eliminate user friction and our cost of delivery to provide exceptional value with high ROI

Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood > Know the job to done for your user and clearly communicate the job you do

Synergize > Incorporate the secondary and indirect competition to your job to be done, don’t compete

Sharpen The Saw > Foster creativity, no death marches, 35 hour weeks with generous time away

27 year old naive me read that book and now at twice that age I still reference and apply it.