Motivation is undoubtedly the single greatest influence on how well people perform. Most productivity studies have found that motivation has a stronger influence on productivity than any other factor.

Trying to apply formal methods to all software projects is just as bad as trying to apply code-and-fix development to all projects.

A brute force solution that works is better than an elegant solution that doesn't work.

95% on content and the computer language remains the same.

Even when you have skilled, motivated, hard-working people, the wrong team structure can undercut their efforts instead of catapulting them to success. A poor team structure can increase development time, reduce quality, damage morale, increase turnover, and ultimately lead to project cancellation.

The primary purpose of software estimation is not to predict a project's outcome; it is to determine whether a project's targets are realistic enough to allow the project to be controlled to meet them.

Engineering is the application of scientific principles toward practical ends. If the engineering isn't practical, it's bad engineering.