In the 1930s, the great Russian physicist Georgy Gamov began publishing a series of stories about a certain Mr. Tompkins, a middle-aged bank clerk. Mr. Tompkins, as these stories show, was interested in modern science. He regularly attended evening lectures by a local university professor and, of course, always fell asleep in the most interesting place, and when he woke up, he found himself in some parallel world, where one of the basic laws of physics acted in an unconventional way.
In one of these stories, for example, Mr. Tompkins found himself in a universe where the speed of light was only twenty-five kilometers per hour, and could observe the effects of the theory of relativity while cycling. As he began to pedal faster, the approaching buildings shrank in size, and the clock on the post office building slowed down. The plot of another story was that Mr. Tompkins visited a world where Planck's constant was equal to one, and observed quantum mechanics in action, standing at a billiard table: the balls did not roll smoothly on the surface, as usual, but behaved unpredictably, like quantum particles.
I became acquainted with Gamow's stories when I was a teenager. Like Mr. Tompkins, I was interested in modern science, by that time I had already read many books on quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. But only after I got my hands on the stories about the unlucky bank clerk, I finally began to understand what this was all about.
I have always admired Gamow's ability to describe complex scientific postulates in such an interesting and unobtrusive form. It seemed to me that some of the principles of project management could be described in the same form. And I decided to tell you, dear reader, a story about an experienced leader who found himself in a certain imaginary country where amendments were made “from above” to various management rules. Thus was born (my deepest apologies to Georgy Gamow) the idea of this book - a story about a manager named Tompkins who ended up in the former socialist republic of Morovia, where he was appointed project manager for software development.
Tom DeMarco,
Camden, Maine
Dedicated to Sally (and who else!)
Widest possibilities
Webster Tompkins sat in the back row of Baldridge One, the main auditorium of the Big Telecommunications Corporation, based in Penelope, New Jersey. He's spent quite a lot of time here over the past few weeks, regularly attending lectures for layoffs. Mr. Tompkins and several thousand other professionals and middle managers like him were simply shown the door. Well, of course, no one was so blunt and straightforward. Commonly used phrases were “downsizing,” or “downsizing,” or “to optimize the company’s operations,” or — and this was the most remarkable of all — “giving the freedom to choose another job.” For this last phrase, the abbreviation was immediately invented: SVDR. Tompkins was one such SVDR.
Today at Baldridge-1, another lecture was to take place on the topic "The widest opportunities are right in front of us." As stated in the program, this series of lectures consisted of "more than a hundred hours of extremely exciting trainings, plays, musical interludes and other events for the newly minted SVDR." Employees of the personnel department (whom no one fired) were convinced that becoming a SVDR is the greatest happiness, only the rest for some reason do not understand this. Of course, they themselves really wanted to become SVDR. Honestly. But, alas, still not lucky. For now, they still have to bear their burden: to receive regular salaries and to get promoted. And now, having entered the stage, they will courageously continue their hard work.
The last few rows in the auditorium fell into what acoustic engineers call "dead." For some mysterious reason, which no one has yet been able to explain, the sound from the stage practically did not penetrate here, so it was a wonderful nap here. Tompkins has always settled down here.
On the next seat, he laid out today's set of gifts from the company: two thick notebooks and other little things were packed in a beautiful cloth bag with the company logo and the inscription: "Our company is losing weight, so everyone else can gain weight." A baseball cap with embroidery “I am SVDR and I am proud of it!” Lay on top of the bag. After reading this inspiring motto, Tompkins pulled the baseball cap over his head and was sleeping peacefully within a minute.
At this time, the choir of personnel working with personnel was singing loudly on stage: “The widest possibilities - let's open the door for them! Let's open it! " According to the idea of the performers, the listeners were supposed to clap their hands and sing along: "Open up!" To the left of the stage stood a man with a loudspeaker and cheered the audience with shouts: "Louder, louder!" Several people clapped listlessly, but no one wanted to sing along. However, all this noise began to make its way even into the "dead zone" where Mr. Tompkins slept, and eventually woke him up.
He yawned and looked around. Not far from him, in the same "dead zone", someone was sitting. A real beauty. In his early thirties, sleek black hair, dark eyes. Smiling slightly, she watched the silent performance on stage. There was no approval in that smile. It seemed to Tompkins that they had already met somewhere.
- Did I miss anything? - he turned to the stranger.
“Just the most important thing,” she replied, not being distracted from what was happening.
- Maybe you can give me a brief outline?
“They tell you to get out, but they ask you not to change the telephone company that provides you with long distance communications.
- Anything else?
“Well… you slept for almost an hour. Let me remember. No, perhaps there was nothing more interesting. Several funny songs.
- Clear. The usual gala performance from our HR department.
- NS! Mr. Tompkins woke up, so to speak ... in a state of slight anger?
“You know more than I do,” Mr. Tompkins held out his hand to her. - Very nice, Tompkins.
“Bully,” the woman introduced herself, answering the handshake. Now that she turned to him, he could see her eyes: not just dark, but almost black. And he really liked to look in them. Mr. Tompkins felt himself blush.
- Uh-uh ... Webster Tompkins. You can just Webster.
- What a funny name.
- An old Balkan name. Moroviyskoe.
- And the Bully?
“Hmm, my mom’s girlish indiscretion. He was Irish from a merchant ship. Nice deck sailor. Mom has always been partial to sailors. Laxa chuckled, and Tompkins suddenly felt his heart beat faster.
“Ah,” he finally found.
- I think I have already met you somewhere. - It sounded like a question.
“We did,” she confirmed.
- Clear. - He still could not remember where it could be. Mr. Tompkins looked into the hall - there was not a single living soul next to them. They sat in a crowded auditorium and at the same time were able to communicate quietly face to face. He turned back to his charming companion.
- Were you also given freedom of choice?
- No? Staying with the company?
- Again, not guessing.
“I don’t understand.
- I don't work here. I'm a spy.
He laughed.
- Say too!
- Industrial espionage. Have you heard of this?
Tom DeMarco
Deadline. A novel about project management
Foreword
In the 1930s, physicist George Gamow of the University of Colorado began publishing a mini-series of stories about a certain Mr. Tompkins, a middle-aged bank clerk. Mr. Tompkins, as these stories show, was interested in modern science. He regularly attended the evening lectures of a local university professor and, of course, always fell asleep in the most interesting place. And when he woke up, he found himself in some parallel world, where one of the basic laws of physics acted differently than in his world.
In one of these stories, for example, Mr. T. woke up in a universe where the speed of light was only fifteen miles per hour, and could observe the effects of the theory of relativity while cycling. As he began to pedal faster, the approaching buildings shrank in size and the clock on the post office building slowed down. The plot of another story was that Mr. Tompkins visited a world where Planck's constant was equal to one, and observed quantum mechanics in action, standing at a billiard table: the balls did not roll smoothly on the surface, as usual, but took an unpredictable position, like quantum particles.
I met Gamow's stories as a teenager. Like Mr. Tompkins, I was interested in modern science, by that time I had already read many books on quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. But only after I got my hands on the stories about the hapless bank clerk, I finally began to understand what this was all about.
I have always admired how Gamow was able to describe complex scientific postulates in such an interesting and unobtrusive way. It seemed to me that some of the principles of project management could be described in the same form. And I decided to tell you, dear reader, a story about an experienced leader who found himself in a kind of imaginary country where changes were made to the various rules of government “from above”. Thus was born (my deepest apologies to George Gamow) the idea for this book - a story about a manager named Tompkins who ended up in the former socialist republic of Morovia and was appointed a software project manager.
Tom De Marco,
Camden, Maine
May 1997
Dedicated to Sally (and who else!)
Widest possibilities
Mr. Tompkins sat in the back row of Boldridge 1, the main auditorium of the Big Telecommunications Corporation (Penelope, NJ). Over the past few weeks, he has spent quite a lot of time here giving layoffs. Mr. Tompkins and several thousand other professionals and middle managers like him were simply shown the door. Well, of course, no one was so blunt and straightforward. Commonly used phrases were “downsizing,” or “downsizing,” or “optimizing the size of the company," or — and this was the most exciting of all — “giving the freedom to choose another job." For this last phrase, the abbreviation was immediately invented: SVDR. Tompkins was one such SVDR.
Today at Baldridge-1, another lecture was to take place on the topic "The widest opportunities are right in front of us." As stated in the program, this series of lectures consisted of "more than a hundred hours of extremely exciting trainings, plays, musical interludes and other events for the newly minted SVDR" - and all in five weeks. Employees of the personnel department (whom no one fired) were convinced that becoming a SVDR is the greatest happiness, only the rest for some reason do not understand this. Of course, they themselves really wanted to become SVDR. Honestly. But, alas, no luck yet. No, no, sir, while they still have to bear their burden of getting paid regularly and getting promoted. And now they will take the stage and bravely continue their hard work.
The last few rows in the auditorium fell into what acoustic engineers call "dead." For some mysterious reason, which no one has yet been able to explain, the sound from the stage practically did not penetrate here, so it was a wonderful nap here. Tompkins always sat there.
On the seat opposite, he laid out today's set of gifts from the company: two thick notebooks and other little things were packed in a beautiful cloth bag with the company logo and the inscription: "Our company is losing weight, so everyone else can gain weight." A baseball cap with embroidery lay on top of the bag: "I am SVDR and I am proud of it!" Tompkins stretched, pulled his baseball cap over his eyes, and was sleeping peacefully within a minute.
At this time, the choir of personnel working with personnel sang loudly on stage: “The widest possibilities - let's open the door for them! Let's open it! " According to the idea of the performers, the listeners were supposed to clap their hands and sing along: "Open up!" To the left of the stage stood a man with a loudspeaker and cheered the audience with shouts: "Louder, louder!" Several people clapped listlessly, but no one wanted to sing along. However, all this noise began to make its way even into the "dead zone" where Mr. Tompkins slept, and finally woke him up.
He yawned and looked around. Just across the chair from him, in the same "dead zone", someone was sitting. A real beauty. In his early thirties, sleek black hair, dark eyes. She watched the silent performance on stage and smiled slightly. There seemed to be no approval in this smile. It seemed to him that they had already met somewhere.
Did I miss anything? - he turned to the stranger. She continued to watch the scene.
Just the most important thing.
Maybe you can give me a brief outline?
They suggest that you clean up, but they ask you not to change the telephone company through which you call long distance.
Anything else?
Mmm ... you've slept for almost an hour. Let me remember. No, perhaps there was nothing more interesting. Several funny songs.
It's clear. The usual gala performance from our HR department.
NS! Mr. Tompkins woke up ... how to put it more precisely? ... in a state of slight anger.
You know more than I do. ”Mr. Tompkins held out his hand to her. - Very nice, Tompkins.
Bully, - the woman introduced herself, answering the handshake. Now that she turned to him, he could see her eyes: not just dark, but almost black. And he really liked to look in them. Mr. Tompkins found himself blushing.
Uh ... Webster Tompkins. You can just Webster.
What a funny name.
An old Balkan name. Moroviyskoe.
And the Bully?
Hmm, my mom's girlish indiscretion. He was Irish from a merchant ship. Nice deck sailor. Mom has always been partial to sailors. Laxa chuckled, and Tompkins suddenly felt his heart beat faster.
Ah, - he was finally found.
It seems to me that I have already met you somewhere, - it sounded like a question.
Met, - she confirmed.
I see, - he still couldn't remember where it could be. Mr. Tompkins looked into the hall - there was not a single living soul next to them. They sat in a crowded auditorium and at the same time were able to communicate quietly "face to face." He turned back to his charming companion.
Have you also been given the freedom to choose?
No? Are you staying with this company?
Again, they did not guess.
I don’t understand anything.
I don't work here. I'm a spy.
He laughed.
Say it too!
Industrial espionage. Have you heard of this?
If some people, evaluating you as a brilliant leader, kidnap you, take you to a foreign country and offer to lead you most interesting project at a very favorable terms, then you will walk the path of the main character of this book exactly. But if you are a manager, then everything except spy details is your daily reality. The calculation of the size of the team at different stages of the project, the pangs of choice when hiring employees and the painful feelings when they are fired, working under time pressure, arbitration in internal conflicts, protecting subordinates from the rash actions of higher management - all this is painfully familiar to many managers. Because project management is always about working with people. With the conclusions that it brings the main character in their notebook, thousands of executives would agree. However, it is not always possible to formulate them in everyday routine on your own. Therefore, this book will be most useful for project managers of all sizes.
A series: Business novel
* * *
company liters.
Chapter 1. The broadest possibilities
Webster Tompkins sat in the back row of Baldridge One, the main auditorium of the Big Telecommunications Corporation, based in Penelope, New Jersey. He's spent quite a lot of time here over the past few weeks, regularly attending lectures for layoffs. Mr. Tompkins and several thousand other professionals and middle managers like him were simply shown the door. Well, of course, no one was so blunt and straightforward. Commonly used phrases were “downsizing,” or “downsizing,” or “to optimize the company’s operations,” or — and this was the most remarkable of all — “giving the freedom to choose another job.” For this last phrase, the abbreviation was immediately invented: SVDR. Tompkins was one such SVDR.
Today at Baldridge-1, another lecture was to take place on the topic "The widest opportunities are right in front of us." As stated in the program, this series of lectures consisted of "more than a hundred hours of extremely exciting trainings, plays, musical interludes and other events for the newly minted SVDR." Employees of the personnel department (whom no one fired) were convinced that becoming a SVDR is the greatest happiness, only the rest for some reason do not understand this. Of course, they themselves really wanted to become SVDR. Honestly. But, alas, still not lucky. For now, they still have to bear their burden: to receive regular salaries and to get promoted. And now, having entered the stage, they will courageously continue their hard work.
The last few rows in the auditorium fell into what acoustic engineers call "dead." For some mysterious reason, which no one has yet been able to explain, the sound from the stage practically did not penetrate here, so it was a wonderful nap here. Tompkins has always settled down here.
On the next seat, he laid out today's set of gifts from the company: two thick notebooks and other little things were packed in a beautiful cloth bag with the company logo and the inscription: "Our company is losing weight, so everyone else can gain weight." On top of the bag lay a baseball cap with embroidery "I am SVDR and I am proud of it!" After reading this inspiring motto, Tompkins pulled the baseball cap over his head and was sleeping peacefully within a minute.
At this time, the choir of personnel working with personnel was singing loudly on stage: “The widest possibilities - let's open the door for them! Let's open it! " According to the idea of the performers, the listeners were supposed to clap their hands and sing along: "Open up!" To the left of the stage stood a man with a loudspeaker and cheered the audience with shouts: "Louder, louder!" Several people clapped listlessly, but no one wanted to sing along. However, all this noise began to make its way even into the "dead zone" where Mr. Tompkins slept, and eventually woke him up.
He yawned and looked around. Not far from him, in the same "dead zone", someone was sitting. A real beauty. In his early thirties, sleek black hair, dark eyes. Smiling slightly, she watched the silent performance on stage. There was no approval in that smile. It seemed to Tompkins that they had already met somewhere.
- Did I miss anything? - he turned to the stranger.
“Just the most important thing,” she replied, not being distracted from what was happening.
- Maybe you can give me a brief outline?
“They tell you to get out, but they ask you not to change the telephone company that provides you with long distance communications.
- Anything else?
“Well… you slept for almost an hour. Let me remember. No, perhaps there was nothing more interesting. Several funny songs.
- Clear. The usual gala performance from our HR department.
- NS! Mr. Tompkins woke up, so to speak ... in a state of slight anger?
“You know more than I do,” Mr. Tompkins held out his hand to her. - Very nice, Tompkins.
“Bully,” the woman introduced herself, answering the handshake. Now that she turned to him, he could see her eyes: not just dark, but almost black. And he really liked to look in them. Mr. Tompkins felt himself blush.
- Uh-uh ... Webster Tompkins. You can just Webster.
- What a funny name.
- An old Balkan name. Moroviyskoe.
- And the Bully?
“Hmm, my mom’s girlish indiscretion. He was Irish from a merchant ship. Nice deck sailor. Mom has always been partial to sailors. Laxa chuckled, and Tompkins suddenly felt his heart beat faster.
“Ah,” he finally found.
- I think I have already met you somewhere. - It sounded like a question.
“We did,” she confirmed.
- Clear. - He still could not remember where it could be. Mr. Tompkins looked into the hall - there was not a single living soul next to them. They sat in a crowded auditorium and at the same time were able to communicate quietly face to face. He turned back to his charming companion.
- Were you also given freedom of choice?
- No? Staying with the company?
- Again, not guessing.
“I don’t understand.
- I don't work here. I'm a spy.
He laughed.
- Say too!
- Industrial espionage. Have you heard of this?
- Of course.
- You do not believe me?
“Well… you just don't look like a spy at all.
She smiled, and Mr. Tompkins' heart began to beat faster than usual again. Laxa undoubtedly looked like a spy. She was just born to be a spy.
- Uh-uh-uh ... I mean, they are not quite alike.
Laxa shook her head.
- I can prove it.
Then she obediently unhooked the badge and handed it to him.
Tompkins looked at the photograph; it read "Laxa Hooligan." "Wait a minute ..." He took a closer look. Everything seemed to look right, but the lamination ... The card was just rolled up in plastic. He pulled back transparent film and the photo fell out. Beneath it was another photograph of a middle-aged gray-haired man. Peeling off a strip of sticky paper with a name on it, Tompkins read Storgel Walter.
- You know, such a fake looks too unprofessional.
- What to do. The capabilities of our Morovian KBG are not so great, ”she sighed.
- So you really? ..
- And what? Run me to hand over?
- Well ... - A month ago, of course, he would have done just that. However, over the past month, too much has changed in his life. Mr Tompkins listened to himself for a second. - No, I won't run.
He handed the woman pieces of her card, which she immediately carefully put into her purse.
- Morovia seemed to be a communist country? - he turned to Lax.
- Well, something like that.
- And you worked for the communist government?
- You could say that.
He shook his head.
- So what's the deal? I mean, the 1980s showed that communism as a philosophy is absolutely untenable.
- And the nineties showed that the alternative is not much better.
- Of course, recently many companies have closed, many have greatly reduced in size ...
- Three point and three tenths of a million people have lost their jobs in the past nine months. And you are one of them.
The conversation was not very pleasant.
- Tell me please, Miss Buligan, what is it like to work as a spy? I'm wondering, I'm looking for new job Mr. Tompkins cleverly changed the subject.
“Oh no, Webster, you can't be a spy,” she smiled. - You are a person of a completely different kind.
He felt a little offended.
- I, of course, do not know ...
- You are the leader. A system manager, and a very good one.
- But some do not think so. In the end, I was given freedom ...
- Some do not know how to think at all ... and usually become directors large companies, like this one.
- OK. Tell us what a spy is - what does he do, how does he work? I'm just really curious, I've never met a spy before.
- As you probably understand, our work is, firstly, hunting for corporate secrets, secondly, kidnapping, and sometimes we even have to remove someone.
- Really?!
- Of course. The usual thing.
- In my opinion, not a very good job. Do you kidnap people ... and even ... even kill them for some economic benefit?
She yawned.
- Something like that. But we are far from removing everyone. Only those who deserve it.
- Even so. I'm not sure if I like this. No, I’m sure I don’t like it at all! What kind of person do you need to be in order to kidnap - let alone anything else - other people?
- Very smart, I would say.
- Clever ?! What does the mind have to do with it?
“I don’t mean the kidnapping process itself. It's really just a matter of technology. But you need to know whom to abduct is already a more difficult task.
Laxa bent down and he noticed a small cooler bag at her feet. She took out a can of some kind of drink.
- Will you have a drink with me?
- Thanks, I dont want. I don't drink anything but ...
“… Diet Dr. Pepper,” she finished, handing him a misted can of soda.
- Oh, well, if you have a jar ...
- To your health! She touched Mr. Tompkins' can lightly with the edge of her can.
- To your health. He took a sip. - Is it really difficult to choose the person to be kidnapped?
- Can I answer a question with a question? What is the hardest part of being a leader?
“People,” Mr. Tompkins said automatically. He had an established point of view on this score. - We need to find people who are best suited for this job. A good leader always does this, but a bad leader does not.
And then he remembered where he met Laksa Bully. It was about six months ago, at a seminar on corporate governance... She, as now, sat in the last row, not far from him. He got up and started arguing with the workshop leader ... Yes, that was the case. His name was Kalbfuss, Edgar Kalbfuss. A guy was sent to teach them how to lead people - this twenty-five-year-old who has never led anyone in his entire life. And he needed to teach people like Tompkins, who had been in leadership for half their lives. In addition, Kalbfuss had intended to teach this seminar for a week, but, as the class schedule revealed, did not include the actual leadership of people in the list of topics. Tompkins got up, told him everything he thought about such a seminar, and left. Life is too short to be spent on such "training".
Then she heard everything he said, but Mr. Tompkins decided to repeat himself:
- Find the right people. Then, no matter what you do, no matter what mistakes you make, people will get you out of any trouble. This is the job of a leader.
She was expressively silent.
- O! Tompkins finally realized. "Do you mean that you, the kidnappers, need to solve the same problem?" Choose the right person?
- Of course. We need to choose those who will bring economic benefits to our side and at the same time inflict damage on the opponent. Finding such people is not easy at all.
- Well, I do not know. Can't it be easier? Take, for example, himself famous person in company?
- Are you serious? Well, for example, I decided to harm your company. And who should I kidnap? Director General?
- In no case! If you removed the general, the company's stock would have risen twenty points.
- Absolutely right. I call this the Roger Smith effect, after the former chairman of General Motors. I once thought of sabotaging General Motors ... and left Roger Smith in charge.
- Blimey! Great idea.
- Well, in order to arrange a sabotage in this company, I would remove several people from here, but the general is not among them.
- I wonder who? “Tompkins had a good idea of who the company really was based on.
“Now…” She pulled a notebook out of her purse and quickly wrote three names on a piece of paper. Then she thought for a moment and added a fourth.
Tompkins stared at the list in amazement.
- God, - he finally said, - if these people are not there, the company will just return to the Stone Age. You have chosen exactly those ... wait a minute! These people are my friends, they all have families and children! You're not going to? ..
- No, no, don't worry. As long as this company is run by the current board of directors, there is no need for us to sabotage. I came not for your friends, Webster, but for you.
- Behind me?
- Exactly.
- But why? Why did the Morovian KB need me ... how is it there?
- KBG. No, he really doesn't need you. The Morovia Nation State needs you.
- More details, please.
- Our Great Leader of the Nations (for short we call him BBH) proclaimed that in fifteen years Morovia will take the first place in the world in the production of software. This is the great plan for the future of the country. We are now building a world-class plant where software... Someone needs to lead this. That's all.
- Are you offering me a job?
- You could say that.
- I'm just shocked.
- Very likely.
- I'm really very surprised. Tompkins took a sip from the can and looked cautiously at his interlocutor. - Tell us exactly what you are proposing.
- Oh, we still have time to discuss this. On the spot.
Mr Tompkins chuckled skeptically.
- On the spot? And you think that I will go with you to Morovia right now to discuss the terms of the contract?
- Your proposal does not seem particularly tempting to me, especially considering your methods of personnel search. Who knows what you will do to me if I suddenly decide to reject your offer?
- Really, who knows?
“It would be an unforgivable stupidity to go with you…” He stammered, trying to remember what he wanted to say. The language became suspiciously clumsy.
“Unforgivable, of course,” Laxa agreed.
“I…” Tompkins glanced at the can he still held in his hand. - Look, you don’t? ..
A moment later, Mr. Tompkins sagged limply in his chair.
* * *
The given introductory fragment of the book Deadline. A Novel on Project Management (Tom DeMarco, 1997) provided by our book partner -
Original Source: Tom DeMarco “Deadline. A novel about project management "
I tried to squeeze all the “salt” out of a book about project management, which, in my opinion, is not the worst. I post it to the public.
1. If a person does not feel safe, he will resist change.
2. Change is necessary for the leader to successful work.
3. Uncertainty makes a person avoid risk.
4. By avoiding risk, a person misses all new opportunities and benefits that could bring him change.
5. Threats are the most inappropriate type of motivation if you are concerned about employee performance.
6. No matter what you threaten, the task will still not be completed if from the very beginning you took too little time to complete it.
7. Moreover, if people fail, you will have to keep your promises.
8. Leadership needs heart, gut, soul and scent.
9. Listen more, talk less.
10. To manage a project, it is enough to manage its risks.
11. Create a list of risks for each project.
12. Track the risks that are causing the project to fail, not just the ultimate risks.
13. Estimate the likelihood and cost of each risk.
14. For each risk, define an indicator - a symptom by which you can determine that the risk is turning into a problem.
15. Create accessible (possibly anonymous) channels for reporting bad news to management.
16. Reduce waste.
17. The success of a project can be achieved by reducing unnecessary effort rather than striving for
new victories.
18. The sooner you stop unnecessary work, the better for the whole project.
19. Don't try to create new teams unnecessarily; look in the team for already established and well-established teams.
20. Leave the teams to work together after the end of the project (if they themselves want to) so that the leaders who have replaced you have fewer problems with poorly performing teams.
21. Consider that a team that wants to continue working together further is one of the main goals of any project.
22. The day we lose at the beginning of the project is just as important as the day we lose at the end.
23. There are a thousand and one ways to waste a day in vain and not one to get that day back.
24. Model your assumptions and guesses about how the work process will go.
25. Discuss these models.
26. Determine the size of each project.
27. Do not be zealous at first with the choice of the unit of measurement - if later you have to work with real data, for a start, abstract units will do.
28. Build complex metrics based on simple ones (those that are easy to calculate in any software product).
29. Collect historical data to calculate the productivity of completed projects.
30. Work on formulas for calculating complex synthetic metrics until the results obtained will most accurately reflect the ratio of abstract units to the amount of work indicated in the archived data.
31. Draw a trend line through the entire archive database, which will show the expected amount of work as a ratio of the values of complex synthetic metrics.
32. Now, for each new project, it will be enough to calculate the value of the synthetic metric and use it to determine the expected amount of work.
33. Do not forget about the "noise level" on the performance line and use it as an indicator when determining the allowable deviations from the general trajectory.
34. Good process development and continual improvement are worthy goals.
35. But there are still work goals and objectives.
36. Attempting to implement more than one methodological improvement is disastrous. Programs aimed at improving many techniques and skills are likely to lead to the fact that the time frame will only increase.
37. The danger of a standardized development process is that, in the midst of routine operations, people may not notice the opportunity to save time and effort in project development.
38. For overly large teams, the standardized process will be strictly followed as long as it allows everyone to feel engaged (whether it is beneficial to the project or not).
39. You cannot force people to do something differently if you do not care about them, if you are not interested in them. For them to change, you must understand (and appreciate) themselves, what they are doing and what they are striving for.
40. People will not start to think faster if the leadership puts pressure on them.
41. The more overtime you work, the lower your productivity.
42. A little pressure and overtime work can help you focus on the problem, understand and feel its importance, but prolonged pressure is always bad.
43. Perhaps the management is so fond of applying pressure, because they simply do not know how else to influence the situation, or because alternative solutions seem too difficult for them.
44. Terrible guess: pressure and overtime are meant to solve only one problem - keeping a good face on a bad game.
45. The lack of clarity in the specification suggests that there are unresolved conflicts between the project participants.
46. A specification that does not contain a list of types of incoming and outgoing information should not even be taken into consideration. This means that it simply does not specify anything.
47. A project involving multiple parties is bound to face a conflict of interest.
48. The process of creating and distributing software systems is a hotbed of all kinds of conflicts.
49. In most software companies, no one specifically deals with the issue of conflict resolution.
50. Conflict deserves understanding and respect. Conflict has nothing to do with unprofessional behavior.
51. Communicate to everyone that you will try to take into account the interests of all participants, and make sure that this is the case.
52. It's hard to negotiate. It is much easier to act as a mediator.
53. Declare in advance that if the interests of the conflicting parties are completely or partially opposite, then the search for a solution will be left to the mediator.
54. Don't forget: we are on the same side of the barricades. On the other side is the problem itself.
55. There are people who are catalysts. They help build a healthy team, relationships, and fighting spirit. Even if they didn't do anything else (and as a rule, they do much as much), their role in the project remains one of the most important.
56. It seems to us that the worst thing is not to know something. It's actually much worse to be sure you know when you really don't.
57. Awful assumption: teams that don't have a tight deadline seem to finish faster!
58. Meetings should be small. To do this, you need to make sure that people are not afraid to miss meetings they do not need. The easiest way is to publish the agenda in advance, and then always stick to it strictly.
59. Protect people from insults and abuse by the Bosses.
60. Remember: at work, fear = anger. Those leaders who like to shout at their subordinates and in every possible way humiliate and insult them are in fact just very afraid of something.
61. Sometimes the only way out of a situation is to wait. Try to wait until the problem resolves on its own or until you find a way to get away from it.
62. Miracles, of course, do happen, but it's better not to count on them.
63. Anger and stinginess is the formula that those who are responsible for business failure are beginning to apply in bad companies.
64. Anger and stinginess are exactly the opposite of the true goals of any good company - to be generous and caring in relation to their employees.
All the principles of good management are described here in an interesting and unobtrusive business novel form. The author - Tom DeMarco - has already written 13 books, but Deadline considers his most powerful book. He is sure that reading it will add two whole years of great management experience to you, and an exciting plot and illustrative examples will be more useful than any textbook.
It is no coincidence that this book has become a reference book for hundreds of thousands of managers around the globe. It is a must-read in Project Management at many business schools around the world. Chairman of the board
Sberbank directors noted it as one of the best business books and added it to the Sberbank library.
If you only want to read one book on project management - read this
Why we decided to publish this book
This is just a godsend for a manager who is tired of reading obsessive manuals and success stories, and Zen parables about management are not close to him in spirit.
Who is this book for
For everyone who manages projects (especially in the IT field).
And for those who are involved in projects.
From the author
Mr Tompkins' eyes lit up.
- An experiment ... One team works under tight control, the other under weak control, the third is practically free, and all three are working on the same problem. And we see which of them finishes faster. All my life I dreamed of doing something like that. In one team you can recruit too many people, in another - too few, in the third - just as many as, in my opinion, you need ...
“To recruit only experienced specialists into one team, and experienced and newcomers to the other,” Laksa continued.
But Mr. Tompkins was already imbued with the idea himself and was not going to stop.
- In one, recruit people who have already worked together, and see how they will compete with a team where no one knew each other before. Lax, if we do that, we can solve one of the greatest mysteries of management. We could understand why some projects are successful and others are not.
“Everything is in your hands, Webster. Feel free to experiment with all of Morovia. ”Laxa nodded toward the Silicon Glade. “Here it is, the world's first Project Management Laboratory.
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