RE: "One person per product"

["jt" <jt@xxxxxx>]

Well said, Brad...!  (Worth reposting, IMV.)


| -----Original Message-----
| From: midrange-l-admin@midrange.com
| [mailto:midrange-l-admin@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Brad Stone
| Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 9:35 AM
| To: midrange-l@midrange.com
| Subject: Re: "One person per product"
|
|
| Just a few comments...
|
| > I found an interesting article by an IBM researcher on
| > programmer
| > productivity; his message is that a two-minute telephone
| > call really takes
| > 17 minutes: two minutes for the call and 15 minutes to
| > get all the mental
| > plates spinning again.
|
| Let me ask you this.  Have any of your programmers every
| told you this?  Phone calls, interuptions of any kind?  I
| can't believe you haven't heard this or said it yourself
| sometime in your career.
|
| "I need to be left alone for 3 days... every time you come
| in and ask me 'Is the project done yet?' it throws me back
| 20 minutes or more... and unplug my phone too, please!  I
| will let YOU know when it's done."
|
| It seems it takes someone from IBM, or some other
| "reasearcher" to tell us things our programming staff has
| been telling us for eons!
|
| > This makes you wonder about the
| > efficacy of
| > programmers in cubicles and the concept of the open
| > office; I guess the
| > solution is to provide a couple of private phone-less
| > mini-offices with
| > doors and PC's with development tools only, a coder would
| > take residence to
| > get privacy and productivity.
|
| That would be cool.  I'd do that.  I still miss the hum of
| the computer room.  Cubicles just didn't do it for me that
| much.  The cold air of a good computer room, and the
| constant hum of fans downing out any outside noise....
|
| > Our AS/400 side is
| > all written
| > by one person (the best in town, at least), who is happy
| > to tell
| > me 'no you can't do it THAT way.'
| >
| > God bless him.
|
| My goodness!  You should go touring the country telling IT
| teams and management then when you have one of these gifted
| team members, than when he says that you should listen, and
| not get all defensive.
|
| People are just too thinned skinned these days I guess.  I'm
| happy to see you don't take "you can't do it THAT way" as
| him trying to hurt yours or someone else's feelings, or call
| them "dumb", etc...
|
| Brad
| www.bvstools.com