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Monday, August 06, 2007
As the software industry evolved (and continues to), it has devised several processes to formalize the software development life cycle. Some popular methodologies meticulously define every step to be followed in the software development lifecycle, failing which, the resulting output is non process compliant and is supposed to be of lesser quality. Clearly, (IMHO) it is an overhead. Of course, there are bigot organizations who invest huge amounts of time, energy and money on this. On the other hand, there are those who are blithely banging away their keyboards and 'puking' code, day-in and day-out. Do not be surprised, if some of the big brands are working this way, full time. This is what I call 'Carefree Software Development'. So here are a couple of contrived examples, but nevertheless they are close to real-life.
Cowboy Style of Management...
Enter the Cowboy-type Manager. This jean-clad guy is indeed a high-flier. Of course, attending to the cattle downplays his stature. "Enjoy folks, and be ready when I am back" he orders to the cattle. "Mind you, do not cross that line". And off he goes riding on his horse, whistliing a country-side tune.
He returns only to find chaos, utter chaos. "Oh, Gosh! What a mess", he screams. The cattle is all over the place; of course, they had unknowingly crossed that line. He is furious. He slings his gun and fires a shot in the air. "Don't you all know your limits? Don't you know how to graze?" he vents his ire on that hapless sheep standing nearby. Again, the next day, the same story unfolds.
Moral of the story: These cowboy-type managers are incredibly successful in de-railing the project. And when it is about to crash, they use their authority with full force and try to put everything in order, causing undue stress on those unfortunate subordinates. Naturally, the output is not of high quality.
... And the Clique of Lumberjacks
A group of lumberjacks were handed over a task of building a sculpture - the statue of a unicorn. No doubt, they were all thrilled at this prospect. They worked hard. Time passed... Trees fell, axes slashed the wood, and some shape began to emerge. One day, while gulping coffee, one of those said "Hey folks, isn't it great to have the horn a bit shorter. That would make it more affable". Another fellow, who is usually dominant, shouted "No. Never!. That would make it look like a horse. It should be more profound". "Yeah... way to go!.. Lets add more flesh to it to make it look stronger", cheered the others.
So now they had a new design. Nothing seemed to be in their way. They were 'almost' artistes. Time flew... After a couple of months later (needless to say that the project was running 100% behind schedule), the sculpture was 'almost' ready. A few weeks later they were finally done with their sculpture. The unicorn had evolved into a rhino, at the hands of these lumberjacks, defying the laws of natural evolution. (Excuse me, if that sounds a little exaggerated!). Not to forget, the team received an award too - for demonstrating the commitment, applying their innovative ideas and enduring against all obstacles. They were worshipped!
Moral of the story: Some say software development is as much an art as it is science (or engineering); Much like a carefully carved wooden sculpture. Of course, it was made of wood. Basically, all that was required to get this job done was to cut wood into pieces and later glue these pieces!. Bingo! you have a sculpture. Who says lumberjacks can't be sculptors or carpenters?
Cowboy Style of Management...
Enter the Cowboy-type Manager. This jean-clad guy is indeed a high-flier. Of course, attending to the cattle downplays his stature. "Enjoy folks, and be ready when I am back" he orders to the cattle. "Mind you, do not cross that line". And off he goes riding on his horse, whistliing a country-side tune.
He returns only to find chaos, utter chaos. "Oh, Gosh! What a mess", he screams. The cattle is all over the place; of course, they had unknowingly crossed that line. He is furious. He slings his gun and fires a shot in the air. "Don't you all know your limits? Don't you know how to graze?" he vents his ire on that hapless sheep standing nearby. Again, the next day, the same story unfolds.
Moral of the story: These cowboy-type managers are incredibly successful in de-railing the project. And when it is about to crash, they use their authority with full force and try to put everything in order, causing undue stress on those unfortunate subordinates. Naturally, the output is not of high quality.
... And the Clique of Lumberjacks
A group of lumberjacks were handed over a task of building a sculpture - the statue of a unicorn. No doubt, they were all thrilled at this prospect. They worked hard. Time passed... Trees fell, axes slashed the wood, and some shape began to emerge. One day, while gulping coffee, one of those said "Hey folks, isn't it great to have the horn a bit shorter. That would make it more affable". Another fellow, who is usually dominant, shouted "No. Never!. That would make it look like a horse. It should be more profound". "Yeah... way to go!.. Lets add more flesh to it to make it look stronger", cheered the others.
So now they had a new design. Nothing seemed to be in their way. They were 'almost' artistes. Time flew... After a couple of months later (needless to say that the project was running 100% behind schedule), the sculpture was 'almost' ready. A few weeks later they were finally done with their sculpture. The unicorn had evolved into a rhino, at the hands of these lumberjacks, defying the laws of natural evolution. (Excuse me, if that sounds a little exaggerated!). Not to forget, the team received an award too - for demonstrating the commitment, applying their innovative ideas and enduring against all obstacles. They were worshipped!
Moral of the story: Some say software development is as much an art as it is science (or engineering); Much like a carefully carved wooden sculpture. Of course, it was made of wood. Basically, all that was required to get this job done was to cut wood into pieces and later glue these pieces!. Bingo! you have a sculpture. Who says lumberjacks can't be sculptors or carpenters?
Humour
,
Satire
,
Software Development
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