The Code Is The Design

Why programming is about focus, and not hours of work or lines of code.
Also, why you can't replace a racehorse with two cart horses.

Most people don’t understand what a computer really is. It’s the modern equivalent of a magic wand. Its power is only limited by the person wielding it.  

Jack Reeves

From Slashdot The Code Is The Design

"In 1992 C++ Journal published an essay by Jack W. Reeves called 'What Is Software Design?' Many credit this essay as being the first published instance of assertions such as 'programming is not about building software; programming is about designing software"

From What is Software Design?

o Real software is incredibly cheap to build, and getting cheaper all the time as computers get faster.

o Real software is incredibly expensive to design. This is true because software is incredibly complex and because practically all the steps of a software project are part of the design process.

o Programming is a design activity -- a good software design process recognizes this and does not hesitate to code when coding makes sense.

The above seems to indicate that iterative/RAD might be the only way to go.
And that no design is possible in software development, only documentation.

Code as Design: Three Essays by Jack W. Reeves

Zuckerberg

From Why a Great Individual Is Better Than a Good Team

"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comment that a great engineer is worth 100 average engineers."

"I have heard plenty of people argue that no one individual is worth the price of many. But interestingly, I have never heard it from a leader."

"This is why it is absurd to ask questions like "how many mediocre people would it take to collectively beat Kasparov in a chess match?""

"Mediocre minds can also destroy the value or contribution of a great mind."

"No matter how good Kasparov is at chess, he would not do well playing doubles with a mediocre chess player against Bobby Fisher alone."

"Leaders need to make tough decisions all the time. One decision is easy: find the best people and empower them to do great things."

Misc

From The Source Code Is The Design

"have insisted on treating programming like a manufacturing activity"

"seems to be a driver behind a lot of poor management decision making, and unrealistic goal setting
programming is a design activity, not a manufacturing activity"

"throwing more programmers at a project that is behind schedule will hurt it, not help it"

"software developer is more akin to an artist than an assembly line worker, since they are designing in writing source code"

"Creation can not be rushed"

"Throwing more people into the design mix can be counterproductive, unless one of them takes the reigns and becomes the architect"

From Frequently Forgotten Fundamental Facts about Software Engineering

"Good programmers are up to 30 times better than mediocre programmers, according to "individual differences" research. Given that their pay is never commensurate, they are the biggest bargains in the software field."

Peterson explaining the Parento Principle or Price's Law, or what Peter Thiel calls the Power Law.