At the end of 2018, I searched for new software development books to read and came across a list that spiked my interest. My impulse was to buy and read all five books. I’ve bought them all, but only read four of them yet. You can read another book review from this list in a previous blog post.
The book I was most sceptical about came with a black cover and the menacing title “Developer Hegemony” by Erik Dietrich. It’s not a book about software development, it is a book about the industry of software development and why it is fundamentally different than “traditional” industries. And it is a book that promises an outlook on “the future of labor”, at least for us developers. Spoiler: It’s not about taking over the world, as the cover image suggests. It’s about finding your way in an industry that is in very high demand and mostly consists of players that play by the rules of an entirely different game: industrial manufacturing.
Let’s have a short overview about the content: My impression of the book was that it consists of three parts, even if there are five distinct parts in the table of contents:
- The first part takes a good hard look on the current situation and identifies the losers and “winners” of the game. It introduces a taxonomy of industry employees that all give up on something in exchange for some personal gain. What that something is depends on the worker type. This is like the setting up on a chess board. You get to know the pieces and their characteristics and realize that they are mostly pawn cannon fodder.
- The second part puts the taxonomy in action and describes the carnage unfolding on the chess board. The grim message is that the only winning move is to own the board itself and make up the rules, but never participate in the game. And if you find yourself on the board, keep moving sideways like the bishop and change your color often. Don’t associate with any team and don’t engage in any stalemate situations. The author describes the “delivery game” very illustrative: If you are responsible of delivering something, you might succeed, but you can also fail. If you are only responsible of counseling a delivery, you can attach yourself to success and detach from failure more easily. Be the bishop and evade delivery responsibility by an elegant sidestep. This part is especially gruesome because it describes in detail how technical expertise in software development is a recipe to remain at the center of the delivery game. It makes every passionate developer’s heart ache.
- The third and last part shows an alternative to the “own the board or be a pawn” dichotomy. Emotionally, it rescues the developer enthusiast. The message is soothing: You can continue to develop software, but you have to step up and own the results of your development, too. This means effectively being self-employed and acting like a business entity. Yes, I’ve said it wrong: I meant being self-employed and being a business entity. You can probably count on being in high demand for years to come, so the step from “developer” to “entrepreneur” is not as big as you probably are afraid of. And you don’t need to be strictly alone: Find partners and associate with them. But don’t stop being your own business entity. Don’t shed your self-confidence: You are the world’s most sought-after expert.
This book left me speechless. I’ve founded my company nearly twenty years ago without Erik Dietrich’s experience, just based on my beliefs that I couldn’t even articulate. And now he spelled them out for me in detail. Don’t get me wrong: My company is different from Erik Dietrich’s ideal of an “efficiencer company” in many details, but in the root of the matter, this book describes my strategic business alignment and my reasons for it perfectly.
But even besides my own affection to the topic, the book provides a crystal clear view on the software industry and a lot food for thought. Even if you don’t plan to leave your corporate job anytime soon, you should at least be clear about the mechanics of the game you participate in. The rules might differ from company to company, but the mechanics stay the same.
Do yourself a favor and read this book. You don’t have to change anything about your job situation, but you are invited to think about your stance and position in this industry. For my last sentence in this blog entry, let me spoil you one main difference of our industry in comparison to others: If all you need to develop first-class software is a decent notebook and some coffee, why are you still depending on your employer to provide both for you in exchange of all the surplus of your work? That’s the world’s most expensive coffee.
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