Re: The Art of Project Management

In article <0ib3n3t2iesnt3dh3gn8435flb4nthlpms@xxxxxxx>,
Robert <no@xxxxxx> wrote:
On Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:09:30 +0000 (UTC), docdwarf@xxxxxxxxx () wrote:

In article <re31n3lbpvdvr9vsdr82j1ieavsor2a9ub@xxxxxxx>,
Robert <no@xxxxxx> wrote:
On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:56:06 +0000 (UTC), docdwarf@xxxxxxxxx () wrote:

In article <4f9um3dbmdd0fn08hmma3s8l63p9as4f7b@xxxxxxx>,
Robert <no@xxxxxx> wrote:
On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:21:21 +0000 (UTC), docdwarf@xxxxxxxxx () wrote:

In article <n3ptm3dslcg5oubru6oc61t1ktbsets438@xxxxxxx>,
Robert <no@xxxxxx> wrote:
Following are (fair use) excerpts from the book by Scott Berkun, former
Microsoft project manager.

[snip]

If a VP or
programmer wants to slip
something extra in, she should be forced to justify it against what the
project is trying
to achieve: "That's a great feature, boss, but which goal will it help
us satisfy? Either
we should adjust the goals and deal with the consequences, or we
shouldn't be investing
energy here."

VP (or other Boss): 'What part of 'I sign your timesheets/write your
performance reviews' do you have difficulty in understanding? It may not
make sense to you but that's because I have the Big Picture and you don't;
questioning this will be treated as grounds for transfer to the mailroom.'

Management by fear is good for maintaining the status quo; it doesn't
work for fostering
innovation.

What fear? This is Management by Objective; if someone objects then the
objective of a paycheck is not meant.

Before 1980, IT shops were managed intuitively like factories, retail
stores and offices. You imply they still are.

Since 1980, IT shops I have worked in still seem to maintain some kind of
link, however tenuous, between 'do what is asked of you' and 'get paid'.

I've never heard of anyone being denied pay for an hour spent at work.

I've heard rather often of people being denied the chance to spend hours
at work because they have not done what is asked of them... but perhaps
our experiences are different.


Small and some medium sized shops still are,
but not big
organizations.

Wow... in big organisations there's no link between doing what's asked of
you and getting paid? Such a Brave New World!

In big organizations there is more clarity in communicating what is
being asked. It used
to be communicated verbally, scribbled on a napkin or written on a whiteboard.

In the large organisations for which I have consulted, Mr Wagner, once
again our experiences are different... someone High Up issues a dictum,
someone a bit less High Up sends out a memo, someone yet a bit less High
Up does some scrawling... and the projects continue apace. It may be
otherwise, elsewhere.

[snip]

Mr Wagner, in the few snippets above you've managed to question the
competence and capabilities of Managers - who did not know What They
Should Have Known - and Programmers - who want to code without any prior
planning -

I didn't impose a formal process. Your charge should be directed at the
executives who did.

Mr Wagner, some folks get to sit in corner offices and issue dicta, some
folks get to scrawl things on whiteboard and pray they don't hear 'I know
that's what I told you but it's not what I want!'... t'was e'er thus,
perhaps you learned, somewhere, the acronym RHIP.

[snip]

To whom do I write about cleaning up these obvious design errors?

From
<http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.cobol/msg/fecbce869d531856?dmode=source>

--begin quoted text:

Attributed to Alfonso X (The Wise) of Spain: 'Had I bben present at the
creation I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of
the universe.'

--end quoted text

DD

.

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