It is fascinating to see what real-life lessons we can learn from successful process improvement programs adopted by another group of professionals: medical surgeons. Many practices of early surgeons—trial and error, lack of standards, failure to measure and share outcomes, and more—bear a striking resemblance to software professionals and practices today. Ed Kit looks back at the important lessons learned from more than 150 years of key improvements that surgeons adopted and how these lessons relate to our young industry.