Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Rant 1

Here's one flavor of how work gets defined in an IT shop.  Warning, this flavor tastes like shit.

  1. Dream up a feature or capability that you want
  2. Ask an individual developer (not a team) for an estimate on this vague request
  3. Brow beat that developer until you get an estimate
  4. Call that estimate a commitment
  5. Act indignant/surprised when it all doesn't magically come together by this date
  6. Double down on your position.  "If only that lazy developer had worked harder and taken the date seriously"
This is a pathetic excuse for management, and a complete mockery of leadership.  Yet, I'm afraid it is common.  It's what you get when the decision makers have no understanding of software development, and they stubbornly cling to the dream that they can have certainty and predictability.


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