The Mindset

Yesterday, I wrote about ten software development myths, which unfortunately are still around. In his comment to my post, Tim King wisely argued that the ten myths I had listed were all big-company myths.

Tim, I know you said you are going to write your own top-ten small-company myths and misconceptions, but I just couldn’t resist the temptation. Sorry.

I recommend reading the following list side-by-side my previous top-ten list. Oh and by the way, it’s not really about size. It’s about mentality. But let’s not spoil the fun.

10. The manager’s task is easy: he should merely translate anything marketing demands into a task. This is, of course, a one-to-one translation because whatever marketing asks is sacred and has to be done in the highest priority. 

9. Documenting design (or anything for that matter) is a waste of time. By the time someone needs it, Google will buy our company.

8. Hmmm… what reviews?

7. Software development is pure art. And as Charles Horton Cooley said “An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one”.

6. Software development is 100% creativity. We’re still looking for innovative ways to squeeze 25 a day hours into 24.

5. Creativity and discipline cannot live together. Discipline equals stagnation.

4. The answer to every challenge we face in the software industry lies in doing more work in shorter times. And if you want this solution to be scalable, just double your work force.

3. People don’t need processes. Just put a bunch of them together in one room and they will get the job done.

2. The ultimate software development process is: raise money – hire developers – create a mock up – sell company.

1. Quality is… let me see…. hmmm… it’s… haaa… sorry, what was the question again?

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 12th, 2006 at 2:10 pm and is filed under Process, Google, Methodology, Project Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.