Ask Your Developer, How to Harness The Power of Software Developers and Win In The 21ST Century, by Jeff Lawson, Harper Business 2021

"...But now every company is becoming a software company..."

What does a serial entrepreneur tell us to do about that whole big huge scary software development challenge, and more specifically, what does it means to U.S. manufacturing?  The answer, says Jeff Lawson, is not as complicated as we think, although for some companies, it remains intimidating.  But we have no choice, folks.  Its fix the systems, integrate them, and do it with speed.  Better yet, ask your developer!

Lawson's playbook includes wisdom for developers as well as the organization leaders they serve (or drive!).  The goal?  Digital transformation. Every day managers are faced with questions about software - what is the best, will it fit, who else uses it, should we even consider building it ourselves (vs. buy, plug and play).  Fifty years ago software developers were back-room weird people, not yet geeks, but still powerful.  The early developers of IBM apps, for instance, may have remained nameless, but their work impacted all of industry.  Fifty years later we can say that geeks run our daily web interactions, although in manufacturing the terrain is still uneven, rocky with scattered outcroppings of successes interspersed with unmentionable disasters.  Even our first recent efforts to manage Covid vaccinations on line were unfortunately, an embarrassment of big clunky system glitches - clearly we had not come as far as we thought.  

But software developers are a different breed of cat - mysterious and creative, but to outsiders somewhat dogmatic.  Dragged out of the backroom, software developers now stand to seize incredible opportunities as users bid higher and higher for their help and support.

And lets face it, geeks don't always fit the corporate look.  They speak different languages and work at amazingly different speeds.  For the manufacturing sector, now caught between post covid catch-up and daily operating challenges such as production volumes and speeds, they hold the key to ramping up smooth production.  Here are the questions CEOs and CIOs should be ask as they work to develop their IT/AI Plan:

1. How long will it take to build and deploy the software?

2. What are the top 3 ways to attract and retain developers?

3. What are the best ways for software developers and business leaders to work together?  Who draws up specs, and how much detailed advance planning goes into a tech plan?

4.  Who are the guys you should listen to, and which companies have in the opinion of the author, done an exemplary job of integrating and opening up the best software strategies?

Lawson asks some tough questions from his CEO/founder experience, but he also advises us to work on empowerment and trust, realizing that software development is still a creative sport.  To illustrate, the author reminds us of a US vs. Russian space race incident in which NASA engineers were temporarily stumped by the challenge of creating a pen that astronauts could use to write in space.  They wanted to design a space pen in which the ink would flow uphill.  But finally, millions of dollars later, someone revealed The Russian Solution - pencils.  Forget the gravity issue and be sure you are solving the right problem, which is, How can we write in space?!.    Manufacturing leaders will be continually challenged to solve the right problem.  

Patricia E. Moody

FORTUNE magazine  "Pioneering Woman in Mfg" 

IndustryWeek IdeaXchange Xpert

A Mill Girl at Blue Heron Journal, on-line resource for business thought-leaders and decision-makers,  patriciaemoody@gmail.com