Craig Risi

Organizations have become increasingly sophisticated at measuring software delivery. We can measure lead time, cycle time, throughput, deployment frequency, change failure rate, reliability, predictability, and a growing number of other engineering metrics. These measurements tell us a great deal about what an engineering organization is delivering and how effectively software moves through the delivery system. But there is another question that is just as important: Are we actually becoming...

When most people begin their software engineering careers, their focus is naturally on writing good code. They learn programming languages, design patterns, frameworks, testing techniques, and architectural principles. Success is often measured by whether a feature works, whether the code is clean, and whether it passes the required tests. While these are essential skills, they represent only part of what makes an effective engineer. As engineers become more experienced, they begin to realize...

Software engineering is often described as a technical discipline. We talk about programming languages, frameworks, architecture patterns, cloud platforms, databases, testing strategies, and deployment pipelines. We invest significant time teaching engineers how systems work and how to use the tools required to build them. But another skill is arguably just as important, and significantly harder to teach. Engineering judgment. Engineering judgment is the ability to make good decisions when...