I am writing a series of posts that summarizes some of the insights I have gained while working in the Professional Services/IT Consulting world.
My goal with this series to increase awareness of important aspects of projects, promote improved thinking about projects, and ultimately help you deliver projects successfully.
You can read or view all the posts in this series through this link.
Insight: Software can only be as good as the teams who build it
I found a sign near a developer’s cube that said, “Around here we do precision guesswork”. I loved this sign as it touches on a very crucial aspect of what makes software projects tough and so much fun! As developers and engineers, we have to navigate uncertain environments and deliver value to Clients and users. This requires a lot of precision guesswork! ;->
Software programming and managing projects is a highly cognitive and mental endeavor that requires the ability to think big picture and be detail oriented. This is a tough juggling act and people can make the problem harder (or easier)!
Software Projects are ultimately a people business. At the end of the day, we are emotional beings and mask ourselves in the dress of rationality. We tend to use labels, generalize and can be vague about what we want. People can cope well with ambiguity and uncertainty (and some do not!). Software cannot cope with ambiguity or uncertainty. Sometimes we fail to cope with these facts! ;->
Computers cannot think. Computers are not intelligent. Computers cannot reason. Computers cannot make value judgments. However, computers can be programmed to respond in a fashion that seems to demonstrate good judgment, and intelligence.
Software can only be as good as the teams involved in building it. The quality of our teams determine the quality of our products. Our teams are our strengths as well as our weakness. Talk about a paradox! ;->