Where We’re Going Wrong with Developer Productivity
Are you writing enough code, keeping up with the latest technology, or driving product progress? Developer productivity is a top priority for developers, engineering leaders, and businesses.
Aug 11, 2023 • 1 Minute Read
Attempts to measure developer productivity can be risky, damaging, and downright misleading. From the infamous lines of code to brutal code reviews, every developer has a horror story of a time their authentic effort and problem-solving was mismeasured, or worse, even punished.
In this talk, I want to propose a different, science-backed approach to productivity using research evidence from a study with 1200+ developers: developer thriving.
I’ll tackle why “thriving” remains a challenge, exploring three myths about productivity that I believe hold our industry back, and thinking through better and more scientific ways of understanding productivity for engineering organizations, leaders, and developers.
You will leave this talk with:
Knowledge of how good problem-solving environments lead directly to higher-quality work, productivity, and collaboration
Tips on how to encourage developer thriving with cycles of motivation, learning culture, developer agency, and a sense of belonging
More scientific ways to understand and implement productivity.