Tech Leader Chats: How to reduce software development wastage by Ian McFarland

About the talk

Taiichi Ohno transformed the way the world thinks about efficiency through the Toyota Production System and Lean Manufacturing. By carefully observing the realities of automotive production, he overturned the American “more is more” mindset and helped Toyota, then a startup automaker, become the world’s largest—outpacing competitors on both quality and efficiency.

Ohno’s insights were crystallized into a framework of 7 Wastes—a powerful lens that exposed hidden inefficiencies and changed manufacturing forever. In this session, Ian McFarland applies a similar lens to the world of software. Drawing on decades of experience helping startups and large enterprises build better software, Ian will reveal the 7 Wastes he sees as endemic to software development—patterns that are often subtle, yet incredibly costly.

Ian’s talk drew on his storied career, ranging from work at Pivotal Labs, WIRED, Autodesk, and Friendster, to more recently holding CTO/leadership roles at Constructive Labs, Pear Therapeutics, and Digital Garage. He shared how his experience helping startups and large enterprises build better software taught him about eliminating inefficiency, and how we could develop new perspectives on waste in our own engineering work.

Resources

View the slides from the talk and the full talk transcript.

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