Beth Andres-Beck at myConf 2025

From Desert To Forest
There are two hard problems in software development: building valuable software and managing the team that builds software.

Functional technical organizations cluster around two poles, depending on which challenge they have solved for. Either they are working in a Desert, where delivery is predictable and visibility is high but developers slog through the sand to ship the code. Or they are working in a Forest, where visibility is limited and management relies on trust, but the team is aligned on building software well.

If the company is happy with the outcomes of the Desert, there is no reason to change. But if management is frustrated by quality problems, slow delivery, political squabbles or never-ending meetings, it is helpful to know those issues are the product of organizational design.

Adding even more approvals and layers of hierarchy can't fix those problems. We will talk about what does work, and how engineers can drive the solutions.

About Beth
Beth Andres-Beck is an engineering leader facilitating evolutionary architecture, graceful code and sustainable software development. From hir experience on teams of three engineers to tens of thousands, zie has built a toolbox to support rigorous software development in generative cultures. Beth currently focuses on promoting delightful code reviews as a tool to share the skills, knowledge and culture of the profession.

Get to know Beth even more at:
https://blog.bethcodes.com
or on hir LinkedIn page:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bandresbeck/

This presentation was recorded on 27 May 2025 at the myConf conference in Varberg, Sweden.

factor10:
Website: https://factor10.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/factor10-solutions-ab/

myConf:
Website: https://myconf.io/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/myconf/