This document discusses various anti-patterns that can occur in software engineering projects and how to overcome them. It describes three main anti-patterns: analysis paralysis, where too much time is spent analyzing instead of taking action; design by committee, where too many designers are involved without clear leadership or vision; and reinventing the square wheel, where existing solutions are ignored in favor of custom solutions. It then discusses how adopting principles of mastery, autonomy and purpose at an organization can help overcome anti-patterns by promoting continual learning, self-directed work, and alignment with organizational goals.

1. nahim nasserVP of Engineering @BNOTIONS
@NAHIMNASSER

2. ANTI-PATTERNS
ENGINEERING

3. WHAT are ANTI-PATTERNs?

4. Repeated patterns that result
in negative consequences

5. Repeated patterns that result
in negative consequences
When solutions exist

6. 84%Of ALL software projects fail

7. anti-patterns
ARE
Lessons learned

8. anti-patterns
ARE
Heavily Documented

10. Hope you weren’t apart of this one

11. Not to be confused with Test Driven Development

12. Ouch.

13. Whats wrong with that? Haha…

14. Key takeaways

15. anti patterns are bad

16. it is good to be able to recognize them
anti patterns are bad

17. it is good to be able to recognize them
It’s even better to know what to do when
you find them
anti patterns are bad

18. it is good to be able to recognize them
overcoming anti-patterns unlocks incredible
potential in your organization
anti patterns are bad
It’s even better to know what to do when
you find them

20. Encounters
with
Anti-Patterns

21. Analysis
paralysis
AntiPattern #1

22. Analyzing for too
long, while the
opportunity passes

23. Choosing A
TECHNOLOGY
STACK

25. Convergence in language features,
fragmentation in the number of
languages

26. Comparsion MAtrices

27. Comparsion MAtrices
TODO APPS

28. Comparsion MAtrices
TODO APPS
Community Research
hiring market research

29. Comparsion MAtrices
TODO APPS
Community Research
COST-benefit Analysis
hiring market research
Tradeoff analysis

30. Comparsion MAtrices
TODO APPS
Community Research
COST-benefit Analysis
hiring market research
Tradeoff analysis
EASY TO GET TRAPPED

31. 0
25
50
75
100
Opportunity Cost Benefits
analysis paralysis

32. 0
25
50
75
100
Opportunity Cost Benefits
analysis paralysis

34. Agile was designed to
attack analysis paralysis
to handle changing
business requirements

35. incremental
development
the solution was

36. everyone started applying
this to business requirements

37. what if we applied this
to our technology stack?

38. What if we accounted
for incremental
renovation right from
the start?

39. Language agnostic

40. framework Agnostic
Language agnostic

41. platform agnostic
framework Agnostic
Language agnostic

42. acknowledge
the rebuild

43. SIDE EFFECTS

44. birth of the ‘polyglot'
programmers

45. technology choice
agility
is also a great
motivator for engineers

47. EXTINCT BY INSTINCT

48. ANALYSIS
PARALYsIS
extinct by
instinct

49. design by
committee
AntiPattern #2

50. too many software designers

51. No unifying plan or vision
too many software designers

53. erwin edge-case

54. not bad to have a
few designers,
but unification is
critical

55. Your app might work

56. ok now lets create
some new features

57. vomit

58. more vomit
Insult to injury

59. “It is better to have a system omit
certain anomalous features… than
to have one that contains many
good but independent and
uncoordinated ideas.”
-Frederick brooks (mmm)

60. recommended solution:
Designated design leader
!

61. Designated design leader
!
reform meeting processes
recommended solution:

62. Designated design leader
!
reform meeting processes
explicit roles and outcomes
recommended solution:

63. “…conceptual integrity is the
most important consideration in
system design. “
-Frederick brooks (mmm)

65. reinventing the
square wheel
AntiPattern #3

66. Failing to adopt an existing
solution

67. Failing to adopt an existing
solution
and instead adopting a
custom solution

68. which performs
much worse
than the existing
one

69. “Hey, there’s this great
library that does exactly
what you need”
-you

70. “That library will take a
while to learn, and i can write
it better myself faster”
-Ricky Rewrite

71. rookie management

72. rookie management
& pride

73. Recommended solution:
period of library mining
!

74. lean towards
battle-tested
solutions

75. lean towards
battle-tested
solutions
libraries that have
been tried, tested,
and have traction.

77. impact organizational
structure
Antipatterns

78. impact Management
principles
Antipatterns

79. impact how effective
you are as an engineer
Antipatterns

80. BNOTIONS ENGINEERING
ANTI-anti-patterns manifested in

81. mastery

82. mastery
Autonomy

83. mastery
Autonomy
purpose

84. constantly
improving your craft
mastery

85. manifestation:
mastery
internal education
Technology choice Agility
challenging work

86. Autonomy

87. Autonomy
acting with choice
and influence

88. manifestation:
autonomy
self-directed teams
teams choose what they work on
teams choose who they work with
teams choose how they build projects

89. BOTTOM UP
TECHNOLOGY
ADOPTION

90. purpose
intrinsic motivation
beyond profitability

91. manifestation:
purpose
constant alignment with the
organization’s vision

93. mastery

94. mastery
Autonomy

95. mastery
Autonomy
purpose

96. positive effect on
business outcomes

97. positive effect on
personal happiness

98. positive effect on
‘work’ engagement

99. anti-patterns
design patterns

100. anti-patterns
design patterns
well rounded leadership

101. @NAHIMNASSER
@BNOTIONS
email me your stories: nahim@bnotions.com