Planning for Predictability
The manufacturing mindset tells managers they can predict the software they want and then build it.
Why would they assume that? Consider real life. What can you predict there? Very little. The norm is unpredictability, for everything from stock prices to the weather, but most managers try to predict the smallest details of their software projects anyway. You can see this if you look carefully at the typical software development plan again. It assumes we can predict the future far enough in advance, with enough detail, and with enough accuracy to plan for almost everything.
Most plans contain sections dealing with scope, contingencies, and assumptions. The names might be different, but all that stuff is usually in there. ...
Get Managing Software for Growth: Without Fear, Control, and the Manufacturing Mindset now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
