Moneyball and Software Development

In a perfect world one has the right team, enough budget, and a realistic timeframe. However, this usually never happens. Software Managers are given team members based on availability, budgets are pre-set and timeframes are rushed. The problem becomes, how does one deliver a quality product within these limitations?

Billy Beane, the Baseball Executive for the Oakland Athletics, had similar stipulations for his team. The result was, “Moneyball”. A statistical approach to determining what positions on the team required the best players. In other words, given a smaller budget than needed to compete in Major League Baseball, what is the best way to spend it?

The results went against the traditional approach, making the playoffs on a shoestring budget. Concluding with a book by Michael Lewis and later movie of the same name. While powerful for sports management, this team building strategy has many applications in other fields. Including software teams.

Software Leaders have similar issues to Baseball Managers. That is to pay for proven talent at a premium or take a chance on young, unproven developers at much less cost. While the large companies can and do hire the big names (in baseball and software), smaller organizations often have to settle for less. That is, until they determine the positions key to the teams success. In other…