A Maturity Reference Model or Advice for Software Development Managers

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Well, I just can not stop myself from posting this note. It is about an aspect of maturity, as usual one of our pillars in the software industry, talked straight and with good sense.

 

Advice for Software Development Managers

https://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/SDManagerAdvice.html

 

Q: In your opinion, why do so many software projects go over budget or fail to meet their original requirements?

 

GW: There's no single reason, but here are probably the top three:

 

1. The original budget, schedule and requirements were totally unrealistic, due to the inability of people to speak truth to power.

 

2. The original budget, schedule and requirements were totally unrealistic, due to the inability of people to understand and acknowledge their own limitations (which we all have).

 

3. Even in those rare cases that people pass those first two hurdles, they lose emotional control during the project when something goes wrong -- and something ALWAYS goes wrong. In 50 years, I've never seen a project where something didn't go wrong. When it does, the project’s success is determined by the leaders' ability to manage themselves emotionally.

 

Q: If you were to find yourself on a development team, reporting to a project manager, what qualities would you want that manager to have?

 

GW: I'd want that manager to be a congruent, adult human being, capable of learning from others and his or her own mistakes.