In the vast majority of failed projects I’ve been called to looked at, the managers have not read one book on software engineering. They haven’t taken one class, read one article, or been to one workshop. At best, they’ve managed other failing software projects.
One might be the most dangerous number of books for a manager to have read.
I found many of the books I read quite bad, full of hot air etc.; there’s a few lessons to be learned from the classics (like Brooks etc.), but I’m not really convinced about many of the new stuff (agile, tdd etc), after seeing it in practice. It seems a combination of good existing ideas + ideas which are unproven at best.
One might be the most dangerous number of books for a manager to have read.
Good point…
I found many of the books I read quite bad, full of hot air etc.; there’s a few lessons to be learned from the classics (like Brooks etc.), but I’m not really convinced about many of the new stuff (agile, tdd etc), after seeing it in practice. It seems a combination of good existing ideas + ideas which are unproven at best.