“For each bug that’s discovered by either QA or Production that directly conflicts with business requirements will result in 10% of your bonus being deducted.”

I think the above requirement specifies that working software must be produced.

In addition, I think this idea could encourage developers to practice their Personal SoftwareProcess (i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_software_process).
I would hope that developers would take the lessons learned from their previous bonus deductions and code quality into their software to account for their past misses.

At the end of the day, developers are following a checklist of patterns of QA issues that cost the developer money.
Again, the end goal is not to be better at writing code, but rather, to get better with writing LASTING software.

I’m saying that because, nothing in your rules said you had to produce anything.

I’ve actually written about what you are talking about: https://simpleprogrammer.com/2012/11/10/1-million-dollars-to-succeed/

It’s an interesting thing to ponder.

Really? You don’t think greed is a strong driver for anyone who is extremely competitive?
What if I changed that 20% to $1,000,000?
Again, would your development habits change?
Mine would. And I already strive to automate quality into my code.
Philosophically, if greed drives the stock market, war, and government policies, which completely shapes our future by instilling new norms. I’m curious why it would not affect the way we build systems if the reward for doing so was so strong that it simply could not be ignored.

Simple: don’t write any code. 🙂

Manager: Hey developer, I have a challenge for you…

Engineer: Yea boss? What’s that?

Manager: I will offer you a 20 percent annual bonus at the end of the year, but under certain conditions.

Engineer: Okay! What do I need to do?

Manager: In order for you to earn your full bonus, your team must deliver on the following:

1. Your team’s software never crashes or loses work after being handed over to QA.

2. Each bug discovered in your software must never be exposed again after it has been resolved the first time.

3. For each bug that’s discovered by either QA or Production that directly conflicts with business requirements will result in 10% of your bonus being deducted.

In conclusion:

What would you do differently as the lead receiving this challenge?

Would this bonus change your behavior about how to build software?

What if this were the new business model for software shops?

How many developers would strive to be a lead?

How many leads would remove developers from their team based on their bonus being at stake?

* * IMPORTANT * *:
How many of us would now build software differently if we were on the receiving end of this challenge?

* * EVEN MORE IMPORTANT * *
Why?

Thank you so much. I believe your great article will encourage many Taiwan students.
The translated post is at http://wp.mlab.tw/?p=1869