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I can't prove it, but I know what happened. Low-level software engineers are all afraid to push the STOP button. They slightly softball their estimates, the im
by function_seven 3y ago
I can't prove it, but I know what happened.
Low-level software engineers are all afraid to push the STOP button. They slightly softball their estimates, the impacts of their bugs, etc. Their supervisors soften it up just a bit more before reporting to their management. (This is all done via a byzantine tangle of Excel "project trackers" stored 7 folders deep on various Sharepoint sites.)
At the weekly meeting where the managers update on progress, they do a little bit more nerfing of the seriousness. They have faith the dates will be met, so all Criticals become Majors or even Minors. Majors become Minor or Warning.
Someone at the very top will get this shipped. They have no time to hear about failures, they want only Solutions. There are no Problems, only Opportunities. The wider employee base gets to attend monthly meetings with Powerpoints that show how "We're updating our Culture for a new Paradigm". What they take away from these meetings is to keep your head down and don't get in the way of The Paradigm Shift.
Only when the rubber meets the road (literally!) is all this exposed.
- sokoloff 3y agoI’ve heard this called a “watermelon project”: green on the outside, red on the inside.
- berniedurfee 3y ago“Success Theater” is what I’ve heard it called. I’ve seen it in action, billions of dollars up in smoke, but everything is awesome!
- buggeryorkshire 3y agoI'm stealing this, thank you!
- thereisnospork 3y agoWhat gets me is how no one ever seems to see this coming. What is it about GM's[0] management structure that makes them so oblivious? There's got to be an arrangement of the incentive structure to avoid this all too common failure mode. [0]Insert company here.