Preface.
1. Introduction.
Death March Defined. Categories of Death March Projects. Why Do
Death March Projects Happen? Politics, Politics, Politics. Naive
Promises Made by Marketing, Senior Executives, Naive Project
Managers, and So on. Naive Optimism Of Youth: “We Can Do It Over
the Weekend”.The “Startup” Mentality of Fledgling Entrepreneurial
Companies.The “Marine Corps” Mentality: Real Programmers Don't Need
Sleep. Intense Competition Caused by Globalization of Markets.
Intense Competition Caused by the Appearance of New Technologies.
Intense Pressure Caused by Unexpected Government Regulations.
Unexpected and/or Unplanned Crises. Why Do People Participate in
Death March Projects? The Risks Are High, but So Are the Rewards.
The “Mt Everest” Syndrome. The Naiveté and Optimism of Youth. The
Alternative Is Unemployment. It's Required in Order to Be
Considered for Future Advancement. The Alternative Is Bankruptcy or
Some Other Calamity. It's an Opportunity to Escape the “Normal”
Bureaucracy. Revenge. Summary. Notes.
2. Politics.
Identifying the Political Players in the Project. Owner. Customers.
Shareholders. Stakeholders. Champions. Determining the Basic Nature
of the Project. Levels of Commitment by Project Participants.
Analyzing Key Issues that Lead to Political Disagreements.
Conclusion. Notes.
3. Negotiations.
Rational Negotiations. Identifying Acceptable Tradeoffs.
Negotiating Games. Negotiating Strategies. What To Do When
Negotiating Fails. Notes. References.
4. People in Death March Projects.
Hiring and Staffing Issues. Loyalty, Commitment, Motivation, and
Rewards. Rewarding Project Team Members. The Issue of Overtime. The
Importance of Communication. Team-Building Issues. Workplace
Conditions for Death March Project. Summary. Notes. References.
5. Death March Processes.
The Concept OF Triage. The Importance OF Requirements Management.
SEI, ISO-9000 and Formal Versus Informal Processes. Good-Enough
Software. Best Practices and Worst Practices. Death March Meets XP.
Conclusion. Notes. References.
6. The Dynamics of Processes.
Models of Software Development Processes. Mental Models.
Spreadsheet Models. Static Versus Dynamic Models. Visual Models. An
Example: Tarek Abdel-Hamid's Software Process Model. Summary and
Conclusions. Notes. References.
7. Critical-Chain Scheduling and the Theory of
Constraints.
Introduction. What Organizational Behaviors are Dysfunctional? How
Can We Change Dysfunctional Organizational Behavior? Life in a
Rational World. Critical-Chain Scheduling. Conclusion. Notes.
References.
8. Time Management.
The Impact of Corporate Culture On Time Management. Time Slippage
from Stakeholder Disagreements. Helping the Project Team Make
Better Use of Time. Notes.
9. Managing and Controlling Progress.
The “Daily Build” Concept. Risk Management. Additional Ideas for
Monitoring Progress: Milestone Reviews. Notes. References.
10. Death March Tools and Technology.
The Minimal Toolset. Tools and Process. Risks of Choosing New
Tools. Conclusion. Notes. References.
11. Simulators and “War Games”.
Introduction. The Concept of War Games. Conclusion. Notes.
References.
Index.
Historically, all software projects have involved a certain degree of risk and pressure -- but many of the projects in today's chaotic business environment involve such intense pressure that they are referred to colloquially as "death-march" projects -- i.e., projects whose schedules are so compressed, and/or whose budgets, or resource (people) assignments are so constrained, that the only "obvious" way to succeed is for the entire team to work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no vacations until the project is finished. While the corporate goal of such projects is to overcome impossible odds and achieve miracles, the personal goal of the project manager and team members often shrinks down to mere survival: keeping one's job, maintaining some semblance of a relationship with one's spouse and children, and avoiding a heart attack or ulcer. This new and thoroughly-updated edition of Ed Yourdon's book takes into account many of the changes that have taken place in the more than six years since the publication of the first edition.
EDWARD YOURDON has been called one of the ten most influential people in software, and has been inducted into the Computer Hall of Fame alongside Charles Babbage, Seymour Cray, James Martin, Grace Hopper, and Bill Gates. An internationally recognized consultant, he is author or coauthor of more than 25 books, including Byte Wars, Managing High-Intensity Internet Projects, and Decline and Fall of the American Programmer. He co-developed the popular Coad/Yourdon methodology, co-founded the influential Cutter Consortium Business Technology Council, and serves on the Board of Directors of iGate and Mascot Systems.
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