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Death March, 2nd Edition
- By Edward Yourdon
- Published Nov 6, 2003 by Pearson.
Book
- Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
Description
- Copyright 2004
- Dimensions: 7" x 9-1/4"
- Pages: 256
- Edition: 2nd
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-13-143635-X
- ISBN-13: 978-0-13-143635-0
Historically, all software projects have involved a certain degree of risk and pressure -- but many of the projects in today's chaotic business environment involve such intense pressure that they are referred to colloquially as "death-march" projects -- i.e., projects whose schedules are so compressed, and/or whose budgets, or resource (people) assignments are so constrained, that the only "obvious" way to succeed is for the entire team to work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no vacations until the project is finished. While the corporate goal of such projects is to overcome impossible odds and achieve miracles, the personal goal of the project manager and team members often shrinks down to mere survival: keeping one's job, maintaining some semblance of a relationship with one's spouse and children, and avoiding a heart attack or ulcer. This new and thoroughly-updated edition of Ed Yourdon's book takes into account many of the changes that have taken place in the more than six years since the publication of the first edition.
Extras
Related Article
Managing a Doomed Software Project: Practical Suggestions for Breaking the Bad News
Sample Content
Online Sample Chapter
What is a Death March Project and Why Do They Happen?
Downloadable Sample Chapter
Table of Contents
Preface.
1. Introduction.
Death March Defined.
Categories of Death March Projects.
Why Do Death March Projects Happen?
Politics, Politics, Politics.
Naive Promises Made by Marketing, Senior Executives, Naive Project Managers, and So on.
Naive Optimism Of Youth: “We Can Do It Over the Weekend”.
The “Startup” Mentality of Fledgling Entrepreneurial Companies.
The “Marine Corps” Mentality: Real Programmers Don't Need Sleep.
Intense Competition Caused by Globalization of Markets.
Intense Competition Caused by the Appearance of New Technologies.
Intense Pressure Caused by Unexpected Government Regulations.
Unexpected and/or Unplanned Crises.
Why Do People Participate in Death March Projects?
The Risks Are High, but So Are the Rewards.
The “Mt Everest” Syndrome.
The Naiveté and Optimism of Youth.
The Alternative Is Unemployment.
It's Required in Order to Be Considered for Future Advancement.
The Alternative Is Bankruptcy or Some Other Calamity.
It's an Opportunity to Escape the “Normal” Bureaucracy.
Revenge.
Summary.
Notes.
2. Politics.
Identifying the Political Players in the Project.
Owner.
Customers.
Shareholders.
Stakeholders.
Champions.
Determining the Basic Nature of the Project.
Levels of Commitment by Project Participants.
Analyzing Key Issues that Lead to Political Disagreements.
Conclusion.
Notes.
3. Negotiations.
Rational Negotiations.
Identifying Acceptable Tradeoffs.
Negotiating Games.
Negotiating Strategies.
What To Do When Negotiating Fails.
Notes.
References.
4. People in Death March Projects.
Hiring and Staffing Issues.
Loyalty, Commitment, Motivation, and Rewards.
Rewarding Project Team Members.
The Issue of Overtime.
The Importance of Communication.
Team-Building Issues.
Workplace Conditions for Death March Project.
Summary.
Notes.
References.
5. Death March Processes.
The Concept OF Triage.
The Importance OF Requirements Management.
SEI, ISO-9000 and Formal Versus Informal Processes.
Good-Enough Software.
Best Practices and Worst Practices.
Death March Meets XP.
Conclusion.
Notes.
References.
6. The Dynamics of Processes.
Models of Software Development Processes.
Mental Models.
Spreadsheet Models.
Static Versus Dynamic Models.
Visual Models.
An Example: Tarek Abdel-Hamid's Software Process Model.
Summary and Conclusions.
Notes.
References.
7. Critical-Chain Scheduling and the Theory of Constraints.
Introduction.
What Organizational Behaviors are Dysfunctional?
How Can We Change Dysfunctional Organizational Behavior?
Life in a Rational World.
Critical-Chain Scheduling.
Conclusion.
Notes.
References.
8. Time Management.
The Impact of Corporate Culture On Time Management.
Time Slippage from Stakeholder Disagreements.
Helping the Project Team Make Better Use of Time.
Notes.
9. Managing and Controlling Progress.
The “Daily Build” Concept.
Risk Management.
Additional Ideas for Monitoring Progress: Milestone Reviews.
Notes.
References.
10. Death March Tools and Technology.
The Minimal Toolset.
Tools and Process.
Risks of Choosing New Tools.
Conclusion.
Notes.
References.
11. Simulators and “War Games”.
Introduction.
The Concept of War Games.
Conclusion.
Notes.
References.
Index.