Re: New article

Bill,

I liked the article. It's very similar to - beware of shamless plug 
to follow - what my new book, "Managing Software for Growth: Without 
Fear, Control, and the Manufacturing Mindset" says. You might 
remember that I asked you to review drafts for me a few months ago. 
At this point, I'd encourage you and every other member of this group 
to read the book and (if you do) please write a review on Amazon. 

You said in your most recent post that "the belief system that was 
causing the problem is more insidious than I expected." I agree. The 
manufacturing mindset infects software development, especially in 
large companies. It's the wrong analogy. A better one, as I say in my 
book, is "growing software." Software development is a creative 
process of continual discovery. Complexity theory describes that 
process of continual becoming quite elegantly. And /that's/ why agile 
methods like XP make good sense, and why traditional approaches tend 
not to. We've been stuck in the wrong mindset for 50 years. It was a 
natural mistake to make, but it sure leads to some horrid software, 
and to some cruel software development projects.

Software development is a problem like the ones complexity theory 
talks about: constantly changing as you try to "solve" it. Horst 
Rittel and Melvin Webber called these slippery things "wicked 
problems" in their 1973 public policy paper. You can't solve that 
kind of problem by thinking about it, formulating a plan, then 
executing the plan. Solving the problem and understanding the problem 
occur at the same time. That's what "growing software" recognizes. I 
wrote my book to help people see that. That idea has profound 
implications for programmers, managers, and leaders. I hope it helps 
change the software development world for the better.

Thanks for posting the article.

Roy


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