Tuning Performance and Process - Most people are going to focus on the sections on refactoring and tuning – with good reason since it’s the rare kind of advice that’s truly useful rather than just sounding useful.
But for me the most important point is this:
Bill Venners: Let's talk about one of the four principles: "valuing Individuals and interactions over processes and tools." What does that mean?
Martin Fowler: That principle basically says that rather than focusing on processes and tools as a way to further your software development organization, it is more valuable to focus on the people on your team, on individuals and the way that they interact at a personal level.
I think if software development weren't headed toward a more human centered focus I'd take up another line of work. Life's too short to deal with frustration like that.