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Managers and methodology pundits are focused on a dogmatic application of their particular religion regardless of whether it makes sense for the actual applicat
by blindhippo 14y ago
Managers and methodology pundits are focused on a dogmatic application of their particular religion regardless of whether it makes sense for the actual application. I have never seen a specific methodology work in reality when it was followed to the letter - people just don't work like that.
This is a very big reason why I doubt the effectiveness of creating a class of "managers" who's skill set is "managing". How can a graduated MBA lead a software development team without knowing the business or the domain?
Management, to me, is a skill that is learned through experience, not taught in a classroom. And it is in the classroom's where dogmatic methodologies are most prominent.
- api 14y agoIn other words: like most dogmatic religionists, they're in search of a way to live without thinking. "How can a graduated MBA lead a software development team without knowing the business or the domain?" The MBA is the American capitalist equivalent of the Soviet apparatchik.
- wpietri 14y agoDepends on the pundit, really. The Extreme Programming people were pretty clear that local adaptation was vital. Either Kent Beck or Ron Jeffries told me that by-the-book XP was where they encouraged people to start, but the whole point of doing regular retrospectives was to continually improve the process. I do share your suspicion of management as a generic separable activity. Especially since it creates such perverse incentives. It has rarely been my impression that the more managers you add, the better things get.