Ever wonder why techwhirler lives seem so crazy?

Subject: Ever wonder why techwhirler lives seem so crazy?
From: "Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:55:24 -0400


Pace Gordon Graham, I still find lots of value in STC's journal "Technical
Communication"--and increasingly so since George Hayhoe took the helm and
began striving for a better balance between the academic and the
"practical". For instance, consider the following statistics cited in T.M.
Skelton's article in the February 2002 issue (Managing the development of
information products, Tech. Comm. 49(1):61-80):

McConnell, S. 1999. After the gold rush. Microsoft Press, Redmond, Wash.:
"About 75% of software teams begin their projects by 'jumping straight into
the coding without planning or designing the software first'."

The Standish Group. 2000. Chaos in the new millennium: the ghost of
Christmas future. (www.standishgroup.com): "A total of 23% of all projects
failed. Another 49% of the projects were _challenged_ (that is, the projects
were completed over-budget and late, and the resulting products lacked the
features and functions originally specified). Notably, 28% of the projects
succeeded (that is, the projects were completed on time, on budget, and with
most of the specified features and functions)."

You can argue with any statistics, of course, but it's safe to assume that
they're broadly valid even if the details are arguable: lots of folks don't
plan well or at all, and their projects often fail. It seems to me that this
presents a pretty good picture of why so many of us encounter chaos on the
job, and that any newcomers to the field should be aware of these stats so
they'll know what to expect at their first job: a 72% chance (or "a large
chance" if you don't buy the actual percentage) that they'll be dumped right
into a chaotic situation and have to learn fast how to cope.

In such a context, Andrew Plato's advice in such situations (forget about
"procedure" and figure out how to cope with chaos well enough to get the job
done) seems far more relevant than Joann Hackos' more theoretical approach
("procedure" can get you through any situation). Yes, I do disagree with
Andrew fairly often and fairly strenuously, most notably about STC, but that
doesn't detract whatsoever from the value of his broader advice on surviving
in our line of work.

--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is
noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience,
which is the bitterest."--Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478
BCE)

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