软件工程中的速度
July 29, 2019
Volume 17, issue 3
2019年7月29日
第17卷第3期
PDFFrom tectonic plate to F-16
从构造板块到F-16
Tom Killalea
汤姆-基拉里亚
Software engineering is necessary in all modern companies, but software engineers are expensive and in very limited supply. So naturally there's a lot of interest in the increase of velocity from existing software-engineering investments. In most cases, software engineering is a team activity, with breakthroughs typically achieved through many small steps by a web of collaborators. Good ideas tend to be abundant, though execution at high velocity is elusive. The good news is that velocity is controllable; companies can invest systematically to increase it.
软件工程在所有的现代公司中都是必要的，但软件工程师是昂贵的，而且供应非常有限。因此，人们自然对提高现有软件工程投资的速度很感兴趣。在大多数情况下，软件工程是一种团队活动，突破通常是通过合作者网络的许多小步骤实现的。好的想法往往是丰富的，但高速度的执行是难以捉摸的。好消息是，速度是可以控制的；公司可以系统地投资以提高速度。
Velocity compounds. It's also habit-forming; high-velocity teams become habituated to a higher bar. When velocity stalls, high contributors creatively seek ways to reestablish high velocity, but if external forces prolong the stall, soon they'll want to join another team that has the potential for high velocity. High velocity is addictive and bar-raising.
速度是复合的。这也是一种习惯的形成；高速度的团队会习惯于更高的标准。当速度停滞不前时，高贡献者会创造性地寻求重建高速度的方法，但如果外部力量延长了停滞不前的时间，很快他们就会想加入另一个有可能实现高速度的团队。高速度会让人上瘾，也会让人提高标准。
Direction
方向
Velocity is a function of direction and speed; you can't focus on only one of these. Of the two, direction is more easily overlooked. The most common reason that projects fail, however, is that the team was building the wrong thing. As Thomas Merton more eloquently put it, "People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall."
速度是方向和速度的一个函数；你不能只关注其中的一个。在这两者中，方向更容易被忽视。然而，项目失败最常见的原因是，团队建造了错误的东西。正如托马斯-默顿（Thomas Merton）更有说服力的说法："人们可能用一生的时间来攀登成功的阶梯，但当他们到达顶端时，却发现阶梯靠错了墙"。
Amazon's Working Backwards product-development process seeks to compensate for the difficulty of determining direction (i.e., predicting prod...