In which I think about ways individuals and teams can regain some control of their environment, and stop the current compulsion to make things complex.
"My guess is that [it] has something to do with senior managers who like getting their hands dirty." I've long harbored a fantasy of getting hired as a company's VP/Software Engineering (or Senior Director, or some C-suite title of rough equivalence) where I'd be the one member of the executive management who could -- and still did, regularly -- code. In my fantasy, I'd be talking and working routinely with front-line software developers, supporting their better instincts (e.g., true Agile, etc.), and running interference for them against "PM from the '90s"...
Sample conversation (a typical corporate project manager weenie, and me):
Me: "We're actually blessed with several senior and mid-level developers who really get the Agile approach, and we're piloting the FumDum project as our first true Agile project."
PMW: "That's great. I've heard great things about this Agile stuff. Now, where are we at with the project's requirements docs? The Gantt chart? When's the code gonna be done? ...? ...?"
<awkward silence for a few beats...>
Me: "You're fired."
As I'm actually, today, "between jobs" and available to hire, ... well, wish me luck!
Please, on the basis of this "rejected material", put me down for a beta/advanced purchase of this new book! I love the title "Simplicity", and the subtitle... It looks like you're onto something really good, Dave. Eager to see what makes it into the book! Keep us posted...
"My guess is that [it] has something to do with senior managers who like getting their hands dirty." I've long harbored a fantasy of getting hired as a company's VP/Software Engineering (or Senior Director, or some C-suite title of rough equivalence) where I'd be the one member of the executive management who could -- and still did, regularly -- code. In my fantasy, I'd be talking and working routinely with front-line software developers, supporting their better instincts (e.g., true Agile, etc.), and running interference for them against "PM from the '90s"...
Sample conversation (a typical corporate project manager weenie, and me):
Me: "We're actually blessed with several senior and mid-level developers who really get the Agile approach, and we're piloting the FumDum project as our first true Agile project."
PMW: "That's great. I've heard great things about this Agile stuff. Now, where are we at with the project's requirements docs? The Gantt chart? When's the code gonna be done? ...? ...?"
<awkward silence for a few beats...>
Me: "You're fired."
As I'm actually, today, "between jobs" and available to hire, ... well, wish me luck!
Kinda harsh... for a first offense, I'd suggest a session with a rubber hose in the car park... :)
Please, on the basis of this "rejected material", put me down for a beta/advanced purchase of this new book! I love the title "Simplicity", and the subtitle... It looks like you're onto something really good, Dave. Eager to see what makes it into the book! Keep us posted...