Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Espalier plants
Figure 8.2
Creativity under constraints.
Think about this when faced with the argument that the release manage-
ment process in software is constraining. Getting the application into pro-
duction differently for each developer is hardly a welcome scenario.
Processes Degenerate into Bureaucracies
There is a need for an efficient and formalized way of executing a project,
especially when the team size is larger than four or five people. The
downside of such formalization is the emergence of, in many situations,
a bureaucracy. Not all bureaucracy is bad. A bureaucracy is a complex
organization composed of nonelected professional administrators, marked
by division of labor, hierarchy, rules and regulations, and impersonal
relationships. It is rule driven, an after-effect of strenuous attempts to
avoid corruption and misuse of powers. The problem with bureaucracy
is due to the “fallacy of multiplication”: each step of formalization can be
individually justified, and therefore all formalization can be justified. They
believe that if it is good to monitor a certain important aspect of a system,
then they should monitor all of its aspects. Following the rule is no longer
the means — it is an end in itself.
The reason why many are allergic to the term “process” is because
some software companies tend to force all projects to follow certain
processes, irrespective of whether doing so helps or hinders them. Such
unthinking enforcement slows down the team and leads to a lack of
confidence in processes in general, with many devoting their energies to
work around them.
