Managing Software for Growth: Without Fear, Control, and the Manufacturing Mindset

Making Cars

The manufacturing mindset tells us we should

• Figure out the end product we want
• Then build it over and over again
• Then inspect for quality

When you manufacture something, the creative exercise is over by the time the assembly line starts running. You already know what you need to build and how you need to build it. All that's left is to flip the switch and go at maximum sustainable speed. Quality, although you do your best to build it in, is something you have to check the end product for.

How does an automobile company create a car? First, they spend very large sums of money to engineer it. Then they design the production process that looks something like the following (grossly oversimplified, of course):

• Assemble the chassis

• Put in ...