ddewolf's blog

These days, it seems like every time I turn around I am being asked how the economy is affecting Three Pillar Software. I'm cautiously optimistic as I answer, we have more business and a larger pipeline now than we have ever had. To some degree, that may simply be a result of our new focus on developing business. Until just a few months ago, Three Pillar had grown from myself to our current state almost exclusively through being opportunistic.

What is the key to a seamless thought process? Take control of your committed development time. It’s no surprise that anyone will increase productivity by reducing distractions. And what’s the major difference between average developers and those who really stand out? In a word: productivity. Developers who excel have learned to get the most out of their coding time. They’ve mastered techniques enabling them to continuously focus on delivering working software.

One of the principal values of Agile Software Development is the priority given to working software. Agile development teams value working code over documentation, complex architectures, and other extraneous artifacts. This does not mean that Agile teams disregard these artifacts; it only means that they value working software more.

While the value of working software translates into many design and development practices, none may provide a more significant productivity boost than the practice of “Simple Design”. Whether you work in an agile or more traditional environment, simple design can be key to giving your team a major productivity boost.