RE: Re: Digest Number 130

Joe,

At one time in my career I to shared that concept that I'd never take
responsibility without the authority - or any interpretation of that phrase.
As time went on - nearly 30 years now - I learned there are many ways to
proceed down the success path without forcing the situation.

In are quasi-high ceremony world many of my staff have the responsibility of
delivering software to our internal customers without the authority to make
major decisions. Many of these decisions are made for them by the Federal
Acquisition Regulations (FARs), our CMMi processes, cyber security folks who
hover around and other "regulators." As well out IT governance process
provides specific guidelines on how code will be built. Within al this
"framework" we still make use of XP-inspired work processes, do lots of PP,
run 100% UTs, and have a very nice CM system along with our formal SV&V
team.

The myth of "I can't take responsibility without the authority" seems to
fall apart when faced with the realities of commercial or government
software development environments where that concept is completely foreign.

This is not to say there aren't wonderful ways to "empower" the team so they
can proceed with development in the presence of this realistic situation. 

We've successfully (at times) moved forward on self-directed teams. But
tease teams are not autonomous. And that's the big understanding I've come
to over the years. 

Glen B. Alleman
VP, Program Management Office
CH2M HILL

-----Original Message-----
From: J. B. Rainsberger [mailto:[email protected]] 

> 
> Good story, and I understand. I might, for myself, say something rather
> similar: never take business responsibility for delivering software with a
> process that isn't entirely mine, including hiring/firing.
> 
> Of course we can't always get that deal. But otherwise we're talking about
> responsibility without matching authority -- and that's Known Bad
> Territory.

All right, so to force me to dip my toes into that murky water, I 
essentially have to be desperate to the point of not being able to earn 
a living otherwise. (Fortunately, in the worst case, I can always tutor 
high school mathematics for my wife....) This means that I, for one, 
will never cause any improvement in this general situation. If it all 
depended on me, then non-Agile teams wouldn't become Agile teams any 
more quickly than it is happening now.

Questions.

Can /anyone/ make it go faster?
If so, who's trying to do it?

But if not, then I guess I was just born at the wrong time and I should 
just quit, keep bees and grow asparagus.
-- 
J. B. Rainsberger,
Diaspar Software Services
http://www.diasparsoftware.com :: +1 416 791-8603
Let's write software that people understand



 

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