The primary cause of technical debt in your organization is very likely your project managers – not your programmers nor your architects. In this keynote Scott Ambler explores the root causes of technical debt within organizations, many of which trace back to the project management (PM) mindset and the strategies that result from it. Scott works through how to make leadership aware of technical debt and its implications, how to evolve your management practices, and strategies to embed technical debt thinking and behaviors into your culture.

Target Audience: Developers, Architects, Leaders, Managers
Prerequisites: None
Level: Advanced

Extended Abstract
The primary cause of technical debt in your organization is very likely your project managers – not your programmers nor your architects. The management desire to be “on time and on budget”  often motivates deployment of poor-quality assets and rarely leaves room for investment in long-term quality. Although technical professionals may readily realize this problem managers often do not, or if they do they don’t view technical debt as a priority. It is time for a change.
In this keynote Scott Ambler explores the root causes of technical debt within organizations, many of which trace back to the project management (PM) mindset and the strategies that result from it. Just like the technical challenges of addressing technical debt must be addressed by technical solutions, the management challenges of technical debt must be addressed by management solutions. Scott works through how to make leadership aware of technical debt and its implications, how to evolve your management practices to avoid and address technical debt, and enterprise-level strategies to embed technical debt thinking and behaviors into your culture. Results from industry research will be shared throughout.
Learning objectives:
• Connect project management practices to their impact on technical debt
• Learn how to describe technical debt, its impact, and solutions to leadership
• Discover how to embed technical debt thinking and practices throughout your way of working (WoW)