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It seems to me that too many project decisions are shaped by fear of uncertainty.
Why do we make up deadlines, knowing full well we don’t really understand if we’re able to keep them? In fact, more often than not, we know that it’s quite likely we’ll miss them.
Why do we create “watermelon-colour” test reports (you know the kind: green on the outside, red on the inside)?
I could go on and on, but you get my point.
My theory is that we do this to soothe our own fear of the unknown, to generate the illusion that things are under control. Oh look, we set a deadline. We know exactly when it is. Never mind that we have no idea what happens at that point in time. Consequently, the scarier things feel, the more straws we create to clutch to.
Maybe this is also the reason managers seem to be particularly prone to this: while regular engineers only get pressure from above, managers get it from below (their own engineers) as well as above (customers, upper management, what have you).
Clearly, being afraid of your work sucks, and it shouldn’t be this way.
Yet the world of engineering is getting scarier: everything is speeding up, the tool landscape is exploding, pressure from competitors grows.
Yet our work is amazing – it should be fun.
I’ve made it my mission to help engineering teams to get better at what they do: solving problems, delivering value to their users and customers.
The most amazing discovery has been that engineering is mostly about people, communicating. All the things engineers do afterwards, such as writing C++ or solving differential equations, is a mere side effect of the communication which took place.
So let’s explore this human side of engineering together, and have fun creating great stuff.