Starry Sky, The Deadline Chapter 12

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

I really liked this chapter. It has such a natural flow to it, and the philosophical end was just my taste. What I got most about this chapter is how DIFFICULT it is to quantify management. It may even be impossible to get such accurate measures, but maybe, just maybe, enough subjectiveness will get you closer to the truth than nothing at all.

Is it safe to assume that Lahksa wasn’t kidnapped by the bad guy from the last chapter? I mean, what she did for Webster Tompkins was in favor of everything our main characters have been trying to accomplish. She did leave misteriously, but I guess it’s not up to us to know for sure as of now.

So, Lahksa sends a postcard to Tompkins telling him that she sent a guy from the US to help them out quantify their project progress. This Mr. T. Johns Caporous has these function points that he uses to numerically measure project productivity. He quickly flies to Morovia and tells them the function points of the 6 projects. Unfortunately, this guy has to be somewhere else that very evening, and so leaves quite suddenly.

Due to having a very long day, Tompkins and the ex-General were scratching their heads trying to figure out just what the heck those points even meant. Belinda Binda shows up (she wasn’t there for whatever reason) and figures out that those function points are like remaining pieces of work units that a project needs to spend before it is finally done. Cool and all, but still, what is a function point? What is it equal to?

Apparently, that’s up to the actual people doing the project, how they work, manage, and all those things. For this, they promote Waldo and make him

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Looking back

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

My cat, Sheldon.

So, probably the most enjoyable post to write, it’s time to look back at everything that happened during this partial and what’s coming next regarding the Project Evaluation and Management class and some little extras from my personal life.


The Deadline

I’ve read some books that try to cover some deep knowledge on a subject behind a very bad story, but none to the extent of this one. The story is entertainig, kinda cliché, but I do grasp the concepts that they’re trying to teach us about management. It’s a great method, way better than reading a boring text book. At least we get characters and a good laugh every once in a while.

What I value a lot from learning from a novel is that practical examples are there, so you don’t have to think that much about when to apply those things they try to teach you. Nice one, Ken! Link to the book.


Guest Speakers

During this partial we had 3 guest speakers (one came physically to the classroom before the quarantine, and the other 2 joined through Zoom). Am I forgetting someone?

Great work, Ken. I would’ve been sufficied with just one but this is really good. Nothing better than direct experience talking to you. I’m not gonna say their names because I don’t remember all of them but I’ll breeze over what was covered.

The first one was about responsible economics. I was about 30 minutes late so I don’t remember if they even talked about economics on software projects (I think that did not happen). BUT, the guy talked about personal economics, a topic that grasped everyone’s attention. As young adults, we need to start thinking about our future (a little bit). An unfortunate fact is that Continue reading "Looking back"

Cloud Overload: Gone Remote

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

With the COVID-19 pandemic among us, our lifestyle has adapted tremendously (or hasn’t) due to the fact that we need to be mostly isolated from other people. Thanks to technology and the internet, we are able to communicate really well despite not being face-to-face, but it’s definitely not the same and not for everyone!

Probably the most affected daily activity is work, and that’s because it’s most likely to require direct communication with others. Also, a lot of jobs still require some kind of physical labor or action that has to be done on-site. You have the majority of the working population sitting behind a desk (and it really isn’t vital for you to be on that specific place, you are there for convenience), but some people DO have to be there. What about security guards? Firemen? Doctors? They can’t send their work through the internet.

You can’t just ask them to stop working for 2, 4, 6 (honestly, who knows how many!) months. What if they are their family’s only source of income? Of course, they are still showing up to work and need to take extra precatuions.

For those lucky not to need to be physically present in a specific place to work, you have gracefully (or not) transitioned to remote work. You do the same things that you do every day, you just need to talk to your colleagues through the internet. That obviously comes with some challenges, especially to non-millennials who aren’t very keen on technology. A great effort is required on all sides to make this work while everything gets sorted out. The bad thing is that, we are not yet sure when this is going to end.


If you check the podcast from the remote work

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Threat incoming! The Deadline Chapter 11

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

In this chapter we get to know Minister Belok, who looks to be an important antagonist of the story. He shows up one day in place of NNL who suddenly went to de US (with Lahksa of all people!). I don’t know but it seems kind of sketchy to me.

So this Belok person feels hateable, the kind of people you look at (even for the first time) and are instantly disgusted by them, a strong hunch (ha!). Two paragraphs after his introduction we confirm that he is a prick.

If I remember correctly, Tompkins’ contract is not over till about 2 years, he even set up a counter at his office wall with the days remaining (around 600 by the time of this chapter). Tompkins first learns about Belok through Waldo, who tells him that Minister Belok is waiting in his (Tompkins’) office. When he enters, the counter is changed to ‘420’. Nice one.

So, why should we hate this guy? He is the complite opposite of all the principles we’ve learned through this story. He basically wants everything by next June (which is about 6 months from their current time). Compared to the original time (about 2 years), this is a significant cut.

Belok is a money guy, so he obviously doesn’t know a lot about software development processes and that things TAKE TIME. Tompkins tried to explain to him that it was impossible to work with such deadline, but Belok did not care. Belok’s excuse for his reasoning was destroying the experiment our main characters had set up, combining all the project teams, so there wouldn’t be multiple releases of the same product.

Such maneuver would make the process even slower, as pointed out by some simulations and the fact that more people Continue reading "Threat incoming! The Deadline Chapter 11"

Hunch Simulator: The Deadline Chapter 10

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

In this chapter, we see Tompkins in Rome, and gets to meet Dr. Jamid (as previously set up by an older boss of Tomkpins). Just a quick note, at the beginning they said that he was also there for R&R, which I didn’t understand at first, so thanks, Urban Dictionary!

These last topics have had some complex theory behind them. I think this chapter has been the most complicated one, but it’s just as interesting.

Remember the last topics, where Belinda said that guts were better than what’s on paper? Well they kind of expand on that in this chapter. This dude Jamid, is showcasing a “hunch” simulator, where they can model project management interactions based on Tompkins’ gut. First, he has to quantify some of these feelings, which is a real challenge, because you don’t think about the logic of these things, it’s a feeling, a gut!

The point of the simulator is to improve on the hunches, to make them more concrete, and be able to make better decisions. The thing with natural hunches, as expressed in the chapter, sometimes you have many of them. You need to capture the aggregated amount of each hunch, which naturally doesn’t happen. So, your hunch decision isn’t as precise as you’d like. The simulator is able gather your hunch data, environment variables, etc. and give a good enough outcome.


Despite all the fancy work being showcased on this chapter, this highlights the importance of structuring processes and reailizing them into something that others can see, change, and improve upon. Keeping things the way they are inside you will only get you so far, so it can be especially troublesome when things get big (or how Jamid puts it, when you have many hunches at once). Here is Continue reading "Hunch Simulator: The Deadline Chapter 10"

Management and Management: The Deadline Chapters 8 and 9

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

I seriously don’t know what it is with Lahksa and deceiving people, but at least she gets the plot going.

So, chapter 8. This one had a lot of management/productivity jargon and discussion which I had trouble keeping track of. Fortunately, we have Tompkins’ end-of-chapter notes which I plan to discuss in a moment.

In this chapter, Lahksa tricks a guy (Dr. Hector Rizolli) into thinking that he is going to Latvia (but is in reality arriving at Morovia). Apparently, this guy has some real expertise in controlled experiments regarding project management, so it fits Tompkins’ and Lahksa’s needs perfectly.

Dr. Rizolli makes a keynote, etc. etc. and at the end of his multiple-day journey at ‘Latvia’, Tompkins gets real with this guy and asks him some serious questions that can help his not-so little experiment. Im going to piggyback on Tompkins’ notes because a LOT was said in a short amount of time.

What I think is most important to realize is that productivity improves in the long term. It’s not something that is wasily quantifiable either, because it involves people, people’s performance, the managers, the projects, and whatever else happens around them.

The other important thing, in my opinion is that project management is risk management. It is important to predict them, how it will affect the team and how to reduce the negative impact on performance. Of course, you need someone in charge of these tasks, it’s not something that it’s okay to let aside.


Chapter 9. The interviews keep going on, and the team is starting to shape up nicely (at least for now). Bringing General Markov into the team is giving our main characters a fresh look on management that will certainly look useful. I dont remember who said it exactly Continue reading "Management and Management: The Deadline Chapters 8 and 9"

Nose-smelling bull (The Deadline: Chapters 6 and 7)

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

Chapter 6. This one was kinda interesting. Tompkins needs to manage about 18 different teams for their projects and knows he can’t do that alone. He gets sent a stack of resumes that need to be worked out in order to find the appropriate people for the task. As any normal human being, he procrastinates his work and starts reading a book. This makes me realize that something as minimal as a manager’s mood may affect their decision on hiring you, even if you put in hours into your resume, but more on that later.

About the book he was reading, Structural Cybernetic Management. I couldn’t find a book with that exact title (I didn’t even try, honestly), but I was curious about what cybernetic management meant. Okay so, there’s a book called Structural Cybernetics, and its ads didn’t let too much information links appear, but I finally found a Wikipedia page about someting similar. We get, Management Cybernetics, which is the application of cybernetics to management and organizations. According to Wikipedia as well, cybernetics is the study of control and communication between man (or animal) and machine. I’m not even sure if I fully got it, but apparently it’s all about seeking practical assistance in difficult ‘managerial’ issues. This then may need the development of new models, all with technology in mind. I can see how it relates to the story.

Crop of a cow meme (was in my phone)

The main plot of the story wasn’t structural cybernetics (or at least not directly). Apparently, there was a previous attempt by Lahksa to bring in a new manager, but she (she was first confused for a man), politely declined. This woman Belinda, was a pro a few years back but allegedly burned out and is now a Continue reading "Nose-smelling bull (The Deadline: Chapters 6 and 7)"

Is Morovia even a real place? (Deadline chapters 3, 4, 5)

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

Just finished reading chapter 3. The story is starting to shape up, things are actually going somewhere. Webster now has a mission, even if he was forced into it, they are paying him nicely, so this guy must be really good. I’m also glad that Lahksa took the cat with them, they really are professionals.

Before I have to overanalyize everything that was said in the third chapter I just want to say that I hate both of the main characters. Lahksa’s one-liners are incredibly and painfully obvious. Before Webster (I’m calling him Webster now?) even finished worrying about his cat I knew that Lahksa had taken him. I mean, I’m all about saving the cats but all of this is just very cliché.

I don’t even fully realize why I hate Webster, maybe because all he does is complain all the time? Also, I don’t remember if they fully physically described him in the previous chapters, but I just imagine him like Mr. Caputo from Orange Is the New Black. Anyone?


So, chapter 3, Webster is finally sober, Lahksa gives him some papers that detail what he has to do now (and his payment), so they discuss other terms that Lahksa agrees on with little to no hesitation.

They talked about something very important here. There were six projects and too many people, so they were wondering what to do about them. Unfortunately, sometimes there is not work for everyone and some people are laid off. I liked the alternative they proposed in which they mix experienced with novice engineers. It is nice that they care about people’s well-being. I think that at the end, that is a win-win, since you are

Continue reading "Is Morovia even a real place? (Deadline chapters 3, 4, 5)"

Software Engineering Economics

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

So, this post is not about the Deadline book (if you want to see my thoughts on the first two chapters, though, check this out). This time we were asked to read about the economics in software engineering. I just finished reading this and this.

As you might’ve guessed, software engineering economics is all about the ‘business side’ of things and not so much ‘engineery’ stuff most engineers are probably familiar with. Business is just as important as developing your product (we could say it is part of it). Without some high-level management, there is no way your neat little product is going to sell well by itself.

I find this topic very interesting because they teach us very little about this business side of things (as someone aiming to major in Computer Science). We may get a couple of courses but nothing special. Surely, I’ll someday try to get more into the finance part of software engineering, you know, because it is important.

It is all about decisions

Software Engineering Economics is in charge of making good decisions that will benefit a company. These good decisions depend on good management. Of course, when you choose something over other things, there’s always the risk that you get the short end of the stick. It happens, but economics will help you make the best educated guess.


Most of the terminology found in the sources I read actually applies to all kinds of businesses (making software IS business, after all), but software engineering stands out in some aspects, especially on the life cycle economics.

Project life cycles usually involve five process groups: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling. On the other hand, in software, these processes overlap or iterate. This is especially popular because of new methodologies that Continue reading "Software Engineering Economics"

Never accept drinks from strangers, even if they’re hot (The Deadline Chapters 1 & 2)

--Originally published at TI2011 – Luis Wilson

When our instructor said that this was actually a novel and not a ‘normal’ textbook I was skeptical on the quality of entertainment of the book. To be honest, I really enjoyed reading through the first two chapters.

Before my reflections on the chapters I want to address the elephant in the room. What really got me into this story is that there’s an industrial spy in the story. For a second I thought they didn’t exist but it turns out that they’re real. Not sure why she (Hoolihan) opened up so easily about it (haven’t read second chapter yet, as of writing this paragraph), but hey, it’s a novel!

Also, accepting drinks from strangers, especially if they just said the word ‘kidnap’ and that they’re ‘spies’ is a very novice move (I can’t remember the right words right now).


Even if it’s a novel I get that there will be some important concepts that are given to us ‘under the hood’. The one that stood up to me the most is that the most difficult part about management is the people. I don’t have any experience in management (thank god). I know that eventually (and hopefully) one dayI’ll be able to be in one of those ‘higher positions’, but first things first, I gotta be an employee first.

In my past and present job experiences I have only done ‘engineery’ stuff, not actually interacting with people outside my team and mentors. I have so much respect for my current boss (an entrepeneur) that talks with investors, presents on shows (on stage), opens up about his ideas with others.

Just thinking about doing that stuff myself gives me the chills. So even though I haven’t done any of the management stuff I SEE that

Continue reading "Never accept drinks from strangers, even if they’re hot (The Deadline Chapters 1 & 2)"

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