the right question

Scott Rutherford / [email protected] to be reproduced or redistributed

The Art of the InversionSept. 14, 2016

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Lorem Ipsum Talk Title / Sept. 9, 2016

“EVERY COMPANY IS A TECH COMPANY AND TECH IS NO LONGER AN INDUSTRY”

“NOW EVERY COMPANY IS A SOFTWARE COMPANY”




"The urgent argument for turning any company into a software company is the growing availability of data, both inside and outside the enterprise. Specifically, the implications of so-called ‘big data’—the aggregation and analysis of massive data sets, especially mobile, that lead to new insights about customer preferences and company strategies.”




In 2015, a staggering 1 trillion photos were be taken and billions of them will be shared online. By 2017, nearly 80% of photos will be

taken on smart phones.

This year, over 1.4 billion smart phones will be shipped – all packed with sensors capable of collecting all kinds of data, not to mention

the data the users create themselves.

By 2020, we will have over 6.1 billion smartphone users globally (overtaking basic fixed phone subscriptions).

Within five years there will be over 50 billion smart connected devices in the world, all developed to collect, analyze and share

data.




For a typical Fortune 1000 company, just a 10% increase in data accessibility will result in more than $65 million additional net income.

Retailers who leverage the full power of big data could increase their operating margins by as much as 60%.

73% of organizations have already invested or plan to invest in big data by 2016

At the moment less than 0.5% of all data is ever analyzed and used.




EveryCorp

CEO: We need to become an agile data driven company.

Michelle: We need to build a product and engineering team.

CEO: What’s that going to look like and where does it sit?

To the org chart .....




VisionDirection Timelines

ReportsResults




The End Of Middle Managers (And Why They'll Never Be Missed)

Why Middle Managers May Be the Most Important People in Your Company




Who do we need to hire?

• QAs• PMs• DevOps• Data Scientists• Engineers• Engineering Manager• Engineering Director

Director

QA DevOpsData

Scientists

Architect

Lead Enginee

rSenior

Engineer

Engineer

Engineer

PM




Junior S/W Engineer -> S/W Engineer ->Senior S/W Engineer -> Tech Lead -> Architect -> Senior Architect -> Manger / Director ->CTO

Increasing Managerial

Responsibilities




Agile Unified Process (AUP)Dynamic systems development method (DSDM)Constructionist design methodology (CDM)Crystal ClearExtreme programming (XP)Iterative and incremental developmentKanbanLean software developmentOpen Unified ProcessPair programmingRapid application development (RAD)Rational Unified Process (RUP)ScrumStructured systems analysis and design method (SSADM)Unified Process (UP)

Behavior-driven development (BDD)Design-driven development (D3)Domain-driven design (DDD)Feature-driven development (FDD)Test-driven development (TDD)User-centered design (UCD)Value-driven design (VDD)Configuration-driven development (CDD)




Interviews




Junior S/W Engineer -> S/W Engineer ->Senior S/W Engineer -> Tech Lead -> Architect -> Senior Architect -> CTO/VP-Technology

Engineering experience and

productivity




“The rule used to be that a manager of a programmer was always a better programmer, and there were no what we called “technical inversions,” where a programmer works for somebody who doesn’t know how to program”




Perhaps this won’t work as intended...




Engineering Culture




Engineers build things that solve problems. You don't have to be a computer scientist or have any

particular degree to be an engineer. You just have to speak up when things aren't right, evaluate ideas on their merits, and build things that fix what's broken. At Palantir we're all engineers, and we're focused on

solving the hardest problems we can find.




SMALL TEAMS, UNLIMITED IMAGINATION

There are no leashes at Palantir. We work on flat, decentralized teams, each with

decision-making authority, and our people have the freedom to approach, own, and

solve problems creatively. We've intentionally chosen this path over a

traditional hierarchy, and it works much more often than not.




Not fucking up the culture is paramount.

Engineers are involved in goal-setting, planning and brainstorming for all projects, and they have the freedom to

select which projects they work on. Just as importantly, engineers have

transparent access to information. We default to

information sharing.




4-5 Man Engineering Squad



Architects, Product Managers, Stakeholders




Decisions are made using objective criteria.

Teams are organized to maximize performance, not according to politics.

Automation is highly valued.




Treat product / engineering like a 3rd party company. Care about the output, not the process. Consider joint ventures and investment.

Accept there may be things that an engineering organization can do that bolt on product teams can’t.

As an engineer ask about the org chart and reporting dependencies, as a company explain them and be honest…...




“A bad system will defeat a good person

every time.”

Edwards Demming
