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Yep. We saw this same thing with source control. Who doesn't like source control? But the government, in an effort to make sure there was absolutely no risk, m

Yep. We saw this same thing with source control. Who doesn't like source control? But the government, in an effort to make sure there was absolutely no risk, mistakes, or accountability associated with software development, started adding more and more mandatory forms that had to be completed each time a developer checked something back in. This created such a mess for developers that it wasn't unusual for one check in to take hours to accomplish. You'd read a book while the system tried to accept your code changes. Agile is all about failing fast and learning quickly. Most contractual work for the government does not include the possibility of failure. At all. In fact, the way the contracts are written is such that the contractor takes on all responsibility for everything, even things there's no way they could control. In response to this idiotic situation, contractors start bidding at crazy low rates on these things, say 40 bucks an hour, then actually make their money on changes. So it's always in the contractors interest to capture and execute changes, while it's the government is trying to get the world delivered to them on a platter for five bucks. People use the term "perverse incentives", but this is like that taken to the next level. It's a multi-layered thing. It's total systemic failure. We'd call it systemic collapse, but the money keeps flowing in anyway, so that term isn't applicable, although it certainly feels like it. This kind of distrust doesn't make for anything but a living hell for everybody, government employees and contractors alike. So, with tons of rules and structures in place, the way things really work is through relationships. People who are easy to get along with and helpful get more government work. Both sides of the fence can't control the process, and nobody rocks the boat and everybody gets a piece of the pie. You end up from the government side with some sort of informal and unspoken version of I don't care if you make a lot of money, just make sure me and my friends look good Also it'd be nice to pick up a little lucrative consulting work once I've put in my 20 and can start double-dipping. Your average developer has absolutely no idea about this. If they've worked in IT in federal work, they probably have horror stories, but the more you see the worse it gets. Oddly enough, in the best cases you end up with people who really like working together, are motivated, but spend most of their time fighting a Sisyphean fight against the idiocy of the system.

mtts 13y ago
> But the government, in an effort to make sure there was absolutely no risk, mistakes, or accountability associated with software development, started adding more and more mandatory forms that had to be completed each time a developer checked something back in. That's because "the government" is operating under different pressures than corporations. A corporation, big or small, screws up, only a handful of stakeholders are affected and raise a stink. If the government screws up, you're looking at headlines in the Washington Post. Plausible deniability is a powerful force.
- Jtsummers 13y ago
  A nit: This isn't plausible deniability, but rather CYA (cover your ass). Plausible Deniability: Delegation of tasks and lack of records of communications letting the actual responsible party deny knowledge of the "insubordinate" or "rogue" underlings. CYA: A process to change the process to define the process for tracking changes to the process, with 20 signatures or more required at each step of the process, digital forms filled out in triplicate. Or, making proper recordings of communications with underlings so when they screw up you can point out that they didn't act according to your direction, and that they failed to report issues back up the chain.
- gwright 13y ago
  Yet another reason why nationalization of government functions is a bad idea. Much easier to move to a new state than to a new country and there are very few things beyond national defense that can't be handled by a state or local government (public works, education, health insurance/care, first responders, disaster response, etc.). That isn't to say that state governments can't screw things up also but at least the damage is contained and state and local governments generally respond better to their constituents complaints/needs than the federal government.

mtts 13y ago

> But the government, in an effort to make sure there was absolutely no risk, mistakes, or accountability associated with software development, started adding more and more mandatory forms that had to be completed each time a developer checked something back in. That's because "the government" is operating under different pressures than corporations. A corporation, big or small, screws up, only a handful of stakeholders are affected and raise a stink. If the government screws up, you're looking at headlines in the Washington Post. Plausible deniability is a powerful force.

Jtsummers 13y ago
A nit: This isn't plausible deniability, but rather CYA (cover your ass). Plausible Deniability: Delegation of tasks and lack of records of communications letting the actual responsible party deny knowledge of the "insubordinate" or "rogue" underlings. CYA: A process to change the process to define the process for tracking changes to the process, with 20 signatures or more required at each step of the process, digital forms filled out in triplicate. Or, making proper recordings of communications with underlings so when they screw up you can point out that they didn't act according to your direction, and that they failed to report issues back up the chain.
gwright 13y ago
Yet another reason why nationalization of government functions is a bad idea. Much easier to move to a new state than to a new country and there are very few things beyond national defense that can't be handled by a state or local government (public works, education, health insurance/care, first responders, disaster response, etc.). That isn't to say that state governments can't screw things up also but at least the damage is contained and state and local governments generally respond better to their constituents complaints/needs than the federal government.