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Quality and Innovation

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  • What is Sociotechnology?

    Technology is the “sum of ways in which social groups construct the material objects of their civilizations.” The things that we use – the “design artifacts” of the processes used to build them – are socially constructed to the same extent that they are technically constructed. The convergence of technological and social insights in the…

  • Why Software Reuse is Hard

    If you were a software developer in the 1990’s or 2000’s, software reuse was kind of like the Holy Grail. You probably thought it was a good idea in theory from the start. Plus, managers were always enthusiastic about wanting to get more of it. But achieving software reuse in practice was, and still can be, difficult.…

  • Software Reuse Antipatterns

    In 2000, Scott Ambler wrote  an excellent article on the organizational aspects of software reuse. He talked specifically about patterns and antipatterns: “A pattern is a common approach to solving a problem that is proven to work in practice. Conversely, an antipattern is a common approach to solving a problem that leaves us worse off…

  • Continuous Improvement Begins With Standards

    Software is the executable representation of knowledge. [1] As a result, I find that software development provides a fruitful basis for exploring how problem solving is done by diverse team members in a cooperative (or even combative!) context. Here is one example. In June 1997, Tom Gilb wrote an article for Crosstalk on “Requirements-Driven Management”.…

  • Quality Metrics for Policy Evaluation?

    The Center for Environmental Journalism (CEJ) recently posted an interview with Roger Pielke, Jr., an authority on (as CEJ calls it) “the nexus of science and technology in decision making”. The interview seeks to provide a perspective on how journalists can more accurately address climate change in the context of public policy over the next…

  • A Quality Manager for Obama

    President-Elect Obama has hired a quality manager, and her name is Nancy Killefer. She is the newly appointed “Chief Performance Officer” whose mandate is to manage budget reforms while eliminating waste in government processes, ultimately making it more effective. An MIT & McKinsey alum, Time calls her the “first official waste watchdog.” From the Washington…

  • Quality Impacts of Global Warming and Climate Change

    Temperatures in central Alaska have been 60 below zero (degrees F) for two weeks now: Extreme temperatures — in Johnson’s case about 60 below zero — call for extreme measures in a statewide cold snap so frigid that temperatures have grounded planes, disabled cars, frozen water pipes and even canceled several championship cross country ski…