Stop writing code and start solving problems
Central Ohio Software Symposium
Columbus · May 1 - 3, 2015
About this Presentation
Being a professional software engineer, it's easy to fall into the belief that one's role in a company is to write code.
Another perspective might be that one's role is to solve problems for the business and that writing code is merely one of several tools available to help solve those problems.
There are numerous problem-solving “anti-patterns” that are rampant in the industry today. “Forewarned is forearmed” as they say. In addition to highlighting these “anti-patterns” with real-life examples and the (sometimes) disastrous consequences, Michael asks some of the difficult questions about our true motivations for our decisions and how our decisions can either positively or negatively affect our team and our organization.
Software Architect & Magician
Michael Carducci spent years learning to see things as they actually are; first as a magician, then as a software architect, now as both simultaneously. And somehow that’s not even the whole story.
He’s the author of Mastering Software Architecture (Apress, 2025) and is currently writing The Semantic Layer. He has spent over 25 years following interesting problems; through roles from individual contributor to CTO and back again, across industries and continents.
As a speaker, he applies the same toolkit he uses in close-up magic: attention, misdirection, timing, storytelling, and the instinct to take the long way around when that’s where the truth lives. Audiences at hundreds of conferences across four continents have described his talks as the kind that change how you think about a problem rather than just what you know about it.
He also makes YouTube videos about technology and curiosity with his wife Kate, because some ideas are too important (or too interesting!) to leave only in conference rooms.