- App Projects Are Not Small and Easy
- Apps Are Not Easy to Program
- Poor Skill Set Fit
- If You Get a Good Developer, You Still Have to Worry
- The Idea Is Not More Important Than the Execution
- Unwillingness to Delegate: Micromanaging
- Bikeshedding
- Poorly Defined Requirements
- Out-of-Date Requirements Documentation
- Constantly Changing Requirements
- Leaving the Worst for Last
- Cost Overruns
- That Last 10%
- The Whack-a-Mole Problem
- Poor Communication
- Abdication of the Management Process
- Wrapping Up
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Abdication of the Management Process
Many of the issues discussed in this chapter boil down to one root cause: The app creator didn’t pay enough attention to managing the project or left the management of the project up to someone else (who may or may not have done it at all). Whether you are doing the programming yourself or can’t write a line of code, if you want your app idea to come to fruition, you have to keep an honest and vigilant perspective on where you are in the project and make good decisions based on that knowledge.
Many app development companies provide a professional project manager to do this for you (and charge a premium for the privilege), but project managers don’t have the same incentives you do, and their loyalty is not to you or your project but to their employer. Often, those project managers don’t want to ask hard questions. They don’t want to admit that failure is an option. They are generally incentivized primarily to manage your expectations and get you to pay your invoices.
You, as an app creator, are responsible for understanding where a project is now and where it is going, what risks are involved and what can be done about them, and whether your developer is doing a good job or needs to be replaced. If you don’t feel comfortable about that responsibility, welcome to the club. This is difficult stuff to do, and anyone who says differently is selling something.
The simple fact remains that there’s no one else you can trust to do it. You are the one selecting the developer, and you are the one controlling the purse strings. It’s your vision and your goal. But despite the difficulty, it is possible. It can be done, and this book is here to help you do it.