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+---
+title: Software development and my favorite pitfalls
+permalink: /software-development-pitfalls.html
+date: 2015-11-10T12:00:00+02:00
+layout: post
+type: post
+draft: false
+---
+
+Over the years I had the privilege to work on some very excited projects both in
+software development field and also in electronics field and every experience
+taught me some invaluable lessons about how NOT TO approach development. And
+through this post I will try to point out some absurd, outdated techniques I
+find the most annoying and damaging during a development cycle. There will be
+swearing because this topic really gets on my nerves and I never coherently
+tried to explain them in writing. So if I get heated up, please bear with me.
+
+As new methods of project management are emerging, underlying processes still
+stay old and outdated. This is mainly because we as people are unable to
+completely shift away from these approaches.
+
+I was always struggling with communication, and many times that cost me a
+relationship or two because I was not on the ball all the time. Through every
+experience, I became more convinced that I am the problem and never ever doubted
+that the problem may be that communication never evolved a single step from
+emails. And if you think for a second, not many things have changed around this
+topic. We just have different representations of email (message boards, chats,
+project management tools). And I believe this is the real issue we are facing
+now.
+
+There are many articles written about hyper connectivity and the effects that
+are a direct result of it. But mainstream does nothing towards it. We are just
+putting out fires, and we do nothing to prevent it. I am certain this will be a
+major source of grief in coming years. And what we all can do to avoid this is
+to change our mindset and experiment on our communication skills, development
+approaches. We need to maximize possible output that a person can give. And to
+achieve this we need to listen to them, encourage them. I know that not
+everybody is a naturally born leader, but with enough practice and encouragement
+they also can become active participants in leadership.
+
+There are many talks now about methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, Cleanroom
+and they all fucking piss me of :). These are all boxes that imprison people and
+take away their freedom of thought. This is a straightforward mindfuck /
+amputation of creativity.
+
+Let me list a couple of things that I find really destructive and bad for a
+project and in a long run company.
+
+## Ping emails
+
+Ping emails are emails you have to write as soon as you receive an email. Its
+sole purpose is to inform the sender that you received their email, and you are
+working on it. Its result is only to calm down the sender that their task is
+being dealt with. It’s intent basically is, I did my job by sending you this
+email, so I am on clear grounds. I categorize this email as fuck you email.
+This is one of the most irritating types of emails I need to write. This is the
+ultimate control freak show you can experience, and it gives the sender a false
+feeling of control. Newsflash: We do not live in 1982 where there was a
+possibility that email never reached the destination. I really hate this from
+the bottom of my heart.
+
+They should be like: “Yes, I am fucking alive, and I am at your service my
+leash!”. I guess if I would reply like this, I wouldn’t have to write any more
+of this kind of messages.
+
+## Everybody is a project manager
+
+Well, this is a tough one. I noticed that as soon as you let people to give
+their suggestions, you are basically screwed. There is a truth in the saying:
+“Give low expectations and deliver little more than you promised.”.
+
+People tend to take a role of a manager as soon as they are presented with an
+opportunity. And by getting angry at them, you only provoke yourself. They are
+not at fault. You just need to tell them they are only giving suggestions and
+not tasks at the beginning and everything will be alright. But if you give them
+a feeling that they are in control, you will have immense problems explaining
+why their features are not in current release.
+
+Project mission must be always leading project requirements and any deviation
+from it will result in major project butchering. And by this, I mean that the
+project will get its own path, and you will be left with half done software that
+helps nobody. Clear mission goals and clean execution will allow you to develop
+software will clear intent.
+
+## We are never wrong
+
+I find this type of arrogance the worst. We must always conduct ourselves that
+we are infallible and cannot make mistakes. As soon as a procedure or process is
+established, there is no room for changes or improvements. This is the most
+idiotic thing someone can say of think. I think that processes need to involve
+and change over time. This is imperative and need to have in your organization
+if you want to improve and develop company. We all need to grow balls and change
+everything in order to adapt to current situations. Being a prisoner of
+predefined processes kills creativity.
+
+I am constantly trying new software for project managing and communication.  I
+believe every team has its own dynamic, and it needs to be discovered
+organically and naturally through many experiments. By putting the team in a
+box, you are amputating their creativity and therefore minimizing their
+potential. But if you talk to an executive, you will mainly find archetypical
+thinking and a strong need to compartmentalize everything from business
+processes to resource management. And this type of management that often
+displays micromanagement techniques only works for short periods (couple of
+years) and then employees either leave the company or become basically retarded
+drones on autopilot.
+
+## Micromanaging
+
+This basically implies that everybody on the team is an idiot who needs to have
+a to-do list that they cannot write themselves. How about spoon-feeding the team
+at launch because besides the team leader, everybody must be a retarded idiot at
+best?
+
+I prefer milestones as they give developers much more freedom and creativity in
+developing and not waste their time checking some bizarre to-do list that was
+not even thought through. Projects constantly change throughout the development
+cycle, and all you are left at the end is a list of unchecked tasks and the
+wrath of management why they are not completed. Best WTF moment!
+
+## Human contact — no need for it!
+
+We are vigorously trying to eliminate physical contact by replacing short
+meetings with software, with no regards that we are not machines. Many times a
+simple 5-min meeting at morning can solve most of the problems. In rapid
+development, short bursts of man to man communication is possibly the best way
+to go.
+
+We now have all this software available, and all what we get out of it is a
+giant clusterfuck. An obstacle and not a solution. So, why we still use them?
+
+## MVP is killing innovation
+
+Many will disagree with me on this one, but I stand strong by this statement.
+What I noticed in my experience that all this buzz words around us only mislead
+and capture us in a circle of solving issues that already have a solution, but
+we are unable to see it without using some fancy word for it.
+
+The toughest thing to do for a developer is to minimize requirements. Well, this
+is though only for bad developers. Yes, I said it. There are many types of
+developers out there. And those unable to minimize feature scope are the ones
+you don’t need on your team. Their only goal is to solve problems that exist
+only in their heads. And then you have to argue with them, and waste energy on
+them, instead of developing your awesome product. They are a cancer and I
+suggest you cut them off.
+
+MVP as an idea is great, but sadly people don’t understand underlying
+philosophy, and they spent too much time focusing and fixating on something that
+every sane person with normal IQ will understand without some made up
+acronym. And the result is a lot of talking and barely no execution.
+
+Well, MVP is not directly killing innovation, but stupid people do when they try
+to understand it.
+
+## Pressure wasteland
+
+You must never allow to be pressured into confirming a deadline if you are not
+confident. We often feel a need that we are in service of others, which is true
+to some extent. But it is also true that others are in service to us to some
+extent. And we forget this all the time. We are all pressured all the time to
+make decisions just to calm other people down. And when they leave your office
+you experience WTF moment :) How the hell did they manage to fuck me up again?
+
+People need to realize that the more pressure you put on somebody, the less they
+will be able to do. So 5-min update email requests will only resolve in mental
+breakdown and inability to work that day. Constant poking is probably the only
+thing I lose my mind instantly. For all you that are doing this: “Stop bothering
+us with your insecurities and let us do our job. We will do it quicker and
+better without you breathing down our necks.”
+
+If this happens to me, I end up with no energy at the end. Don’t you get it?
+You will get much more from and out of me if you ask me like a human person and
+not your personal butler. On a long run, you are destroying your relationships
+and nobody would want to work with you. Your schizophrenic approach will damage
+only you in a long run. Nobody is anybody’s property.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+I am guilty of many things described in this post. And I find it hard sometimes
+to acknowledge this. And I lie to myself and try vigorously to find some
+explanation why I do these things. There is always space for growth. And maybe
+you will also find some of yourself in this post and realize what needs to
+change for you to evolve.