1---
  2title: Software development and my favorite pitfalls
  3url: software-development-pitfalls.html
  4date: 2015-11-10T12:00:00+02:00
  5type: post
  6draft: true
  7---
  8
  9Over the years I had the privilege to work on some very excited projects both in
 10software development field and also in electronics field and every experience
 11taught me some invaluable lessons about how NOT TO approach development. And
 12through this post I will try to point out some absurd, outdated techniques I
 13find the most annoying and damaging during a development cycle. There will be
 14swearing because this topic really gets on my nerves and I never coherently
 15tried to explain them in writing. So if I get heated up, please bear with me.
 16
 17As new methods of project management are emerging, underlying processes still
 18stay old and outdated. This is mainly because we as people are unable to
 19completely shift away from these approaches.
 20
 21I was always struggling with communication, and many times that cost me a
 22relationship or two because I was not on the ball all the time. Through every
 23experience, I became more convinced that I am the problem and never ever doubted
 24that the problem may be that communication never evolved a single step from
 25emails. And if you think for a second, not many things have changed around this
 26topic. We just have different representations of email (message boards, chats,
 27project management tools). And I believe this is the real issue we are facing
 28now.
 29
 30There are many articles written about hyper connectivity and the effects that
 31are a direct result of it. But mainstream does nothing towards it. We are just
 32putting out fires, and we do nothing to prevent it. I am certain this will be a
 33major source of grief in coming years. And what we all can do to avoid this is
 34to change our mindset and experiment on our communication skills, development
 35approaches. We need to maximize possible output that a person can give. And to
 36achieve this we need to listen to them, encourage them. I know that not
 37everybody is a naturally born leader, but with enough practice and encouragement
 38they also can become active participants in leadership.
 39
 40There are many talks now about methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, Cleanroom
 41and they all fucking piss me of :). These are all boxes that imprison people and
 42take away their freedom of thought. This is a straightforward mindfuck /
 43amputation of creativity.
 44
 45Let me list a couple of things that I find really destructive and bad for a
 46project and in a long run company.
 47
 48## Ping emails
 49
 50Ping emails are emails you have to write as soon as you receive an email. Its
 51sole purpose is to inform the sender that you received their email, and you are
 52working on it. Its result is only to calm down the sender that their task is
 53being dealt with. It’s intent basically is, I did my job by sending you this
 54email, so I am on clear grounds. I categorize this email as fuck you email.
 55This is one of the most irritating types of emails I need to write. This is the
 56ultimate control freak show you can experience, and it gives the sender a false
 57feeling of control. Newsflash: We do not live in 1982 where there was a
 58possibility that email never reached the destination. I really hate this from
 59the bottom of my heart.
 60
 61They should be like: “Yes, I am fucking alive, and I am at your service my
 62leash!”. I guess if I would reply like this, I wouldn’t have to write any more
 63of this kind of messages.
 64
 65## Everybody is a project manager
 66
 67Well, this is a tough one. I noticed that as soon as you let people to give
 68their suggestions, you are basically screwed. There is a truth in the saying:
 69“Give low expectations and deliver little more than you promised.”.
 70
 71People tend to take a role of a manager as soon as they are presented with an
 72opportunity. And by getting angry at them, you only provoke yourself. They are
 73not at fault. You just need to tell them they are only giving suggestions and
 74not tasks at the beginning and everything will be alright. But if you give them
 75a feeling that they are in control, you will have immense problems explaining
 76why their features are not in current release.
 77
 78Project mission must be always leading project requirements and any deviation
 79from it will result in major project butchering. And by this, I mean that the
 80project will get its own path, and you will be left with half done software that
 81helps nobody. Clear mission goals and clean execution will allow you to develop
 82software will clear intent.
 83
 84## We are never wrong
 85
 86I find this type of arrogance the worst. We must always conduct ourselves that
 87we are infallible and cannot make mistakes. As soon as a procedure or process is
 88established, there is no room for changes or improvements. This is the most
 89idiotic thing someone can say of think. I think that processes need to involve
 90and change over time. This is imperative and need to have in your organization
 91if you want to improve and develop company. We all need to grow balls and change
 92everything in order to adapt to current situations. Being a prisoner of
 93predefined processes kills creativity.
 94
 95I am constantly trying new software for project managing and communication.  I
 96believe every team has its own dynamic, and it needs to be discovered
 97organically and naturally through many experiments. By putting the team in a
 98box, you are amputating their creativity and therefore minimizing their
 99potential. But if you talk to an executive, you will mainly find archetypical
100thinking and a strong need to compartmentalize everything from business
101processes to resource management. And this type of management that often
102displays micromanagement techniques only works for short periods (couple of
103years) and then employees either leave the company or become basically retarded
104drones on autopilot.
105
106## Micromanaging
107
108This basically implies that everybody on the team is an idiot who needs to have
109a to-do list that they cannot write themselves. How about spoon-feeding the team
110at launch because besides the team leader, everybody must be a retarded idiot at
111best?
112
113I prefer milestones as they give developers much more freedom and creativity in
114developing and not waste their time checking some bizarre to-do list that was
115not even thought through. Projects constantly change throughout the development
116cycle, and all you are left at the end is a list of unchecked tasks and the
117wrath of management why they are not completed. Best WTF moment!
118
119## Human contact — no need for it!
120
121We are vigorously trying to eliminate physical contact by replacing short
122meetings with software, with no regards that we are not machines. Many times a
123simple 5-min meeting at morning can solve most of the problems. In rapid
124development, short bursts of man to man communication is possibly the best way
125to go.
126
127We now have all this software available, and all what we get out of it is a
128giant clusterfuck. An obstacle and not a solution. So, why we still use them?
129
130## MVP is killing innovation
131
132Many will disagree with me on this one, but I stand strong by this statement.
133What I noticed in my experience that all this buzz words around us only mislead
134and capture us in a circle of solving issues that already have a solution, but
135we are unable to see it without using some fancy word for it.
136
137The toughest thing to do for a developer is to minimize requirements. Well, this
138is though only for bad developers. Yes, I said it. There are many types of
139developers out there. And those unable to minimize feature scope are the ones
140you don’t need on your team. Their only goal is to solve problems that exist
141only in their heads. And then you have to argue with them, and waste energy on
142them, instead of developing your awesome product. They are a cancer and I
143suggest you cut them off.
144
145MVP as an idea is great, but sadly people don’t understand underlying
146philosophy, and they spent too much time focusing and fixating on something that
147every sane person with normal IQ will understand without some made up
148acronym. And the result is a lot of talking and barely no execution.
149
150Well, MVP is not directly killing innovation, but stupid people do when they try
151to understand it.
152
153## Pressure wasteland
154
155You must never allow to be pressured into confirming a deadline if you are not
156confident. We often feel a need that we are in service of others, which is true
157to some extent. But it is also true that others are in service to us to some
158extent. And we forget this all the time. We are all pressured all the time to
159make decisions just to calm other people down. And when they leave your office
160you experience WTF moment :) How the hell did they manage to fuck me up again?
161
162People need to realize that the more pressure you put on somebody, the less they
163will be able to do. So 5-min update email requests will only resolve in mental
164breakdown and inability to work that day. Constant poking is probably the only
165thing I lose my mind instantly. For all you that are doing this: “Stop bothering
166us with your insecurities and let us do our job. We will do it quicker and
167better without you breathing down our necks.”
168
169If this happens to me, I end up with no energy at the end. Don’t you get it?
170You will get much more from and out of me if you ask me like a human person and
171not your personal butler. On a long run, you are destroying your relationships
172and nobody would want to work with you. Your schizophrenic approach will damage
173only you in a long run. Nobody is anybody’s property.
174
175## Conclusion
176
177I am guilty of many things described in this post. And I find it hard sometimes
178to acknowledge this. And I lie to myself and try vigorously to find some
179explanation why I do these things. There is always space for growth. And maybe
180you will also find some of yourself in this post and realize what needs to
181change for you to evolve.