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"

Feared or Loved

--Originally published at Site Title

While I was reading an amazing novel called “The Deadline A Novel About Project Management”, from the chapter 3 to 5. I realized something that is pretty important when you are the head of a group and that is the way your persuades people to do the tasks that you want and how to keep them motivate.

Be persuasive normally requires at least one characteristic, this aspect is the one that defines the way that you are going to be seen by the people you are rounded, for example, if you are a ruler of a country and the people love you, you will be seen like an Autocrat. However, if the people fears you, you will be seen like a Tyrant.

A lot of people differs about what is the best practice in everyday life, some believe that be feared is the best, because people is not allowed to say you no and is the only way is to do the things that you want, due to the fact that they are scared about the actions you can take against them, so they tried everything to accomplish their task and their motivation is the fear. Nonetheless, the problem of this methodology is when someone can not fullfill their activities, because if you does not apply the right punishment the rest is going to think that the things you say are only a lie, for this reason is just a matter of time to lose the power.

Meanwhile when you are a loved leader, the things work totally different, because you are surrounded only by the people that enjoy working by your side. Their motivation comes from the way you treat them, how you make them fell that are part of something important and their contributions are good for everyone. Continue reading "Feared or Loved"

Software is not only coding

--Originally published at Blog Oliver

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Most of the time software developers only look into technical maters or things related to code. But what about economical decisions or creating a business plan, no matter how good a product or software is, it will fail without a good business structure.

We think we don’t need knowledge in economics but think about it, do we know what to do with a good business idea? How do we make the transition between just a simple project and a company? Software Engineering Economics helps us to analyze and take decisions related to economics, such as how to manage and divide investments. We don’t need to be experts but we need to stop thinking engineers don’t need economics.

 

Deadline 3,4 & 5

--Originally published at TI2011 – The Broken Wallflower

Before reading

As you know, I am currently writing about a novel that I’m reading, which is Deadline, a novel about project management, by Tom DeMarco, so in these posts we are going to discuss about the chapters of the book and at the end I am giving my truly opinion about the book, In the last chapters the book did not caught our attention, because it felt kind of confusing and slow, lets see if the novel has something special for us.

This is a gif of sponge bob reading a book- giphy

——–Reading the chapters——

Chapter 3

By now the book seems to start getting a little interesting, in this chapter of the book Mr T, who is the main character of the novel wakes up in a place that is similar to his home but it’s not home, as soon as he wakes up he saw Ms Hoolihan looking at him, he is mad and angry because he of course notices that he has been kidnaped, but Holihan seems not to pay too much attention to what Mr T feels, because time is running and Mr T needs to start doing the job for what he had been kidnapped. As soon as Holihan starts explainin what Mr T’s job would be she said to Mr T that if he does not what to do the job he is free to leave, but of course Holihan knows that someone like Mr T would never refuse such an oportunity like the one that is being given at the moment, they would pay twice the amount of money that Mr T did back in USA.

This is a gif of a cat being petted-Tenos

A lot of money an a job specially made for Mr T finally convinces Mr T

Continue reading "Deadline 3,4 & 5"

Lessons that Mr. Tompkins learn

--Originally published at Blog de Célia

What’s the situation now?

Let’s start by a small resume of the situation. I’m afraid I will forget this part of the book if I’m not doing it (sorry to not trust my brain enough, if you’re not interested you can just skip this paragraph).

Our Mr. Tompkins woke up in a hotel room, in another country: Morovian. Mrs Hoolikan is here, and they talked about the job. First, he was sceptical to accept it but then after some discussions, he accepted it (money is sometimes the biggest argument in life decision, sad uh?). So, he will earn a lot of money and will work on the creation of software with great engineers. In the next chapter, he received a book that he will use as a personal journal (and that’s what we will use in our next paragraphs) he met a guy (Waldo Montifore) that will be his personal assistant. The guy looks super stressed and he is threatened by the NNL (the leader of Morovian) and he must work very hard on some project to achieve it on time if not, he could die (really a good CEO, NNL, isn’t?). To be sur to work for this country, Mr. T wants to meet THE leader to ask him some conditions (many employees etc.) to achieve his job goals. He is a tyrant and has a weird vision of managing people. They met, everything went well, NNL accepted every conditions.

The first lesson

He didn’t write himself de first lesson he learnt, Mrs Hoolikan did it for him.

“Four Essentials of Good Management

  • Get the right people.
  • Match them to the right job.
  • Keep them motivated,
  • Help their teams to jell and stay jelled

(All the rest is Administrativa)”

That was the lessons he learnt the Continue reading "Lessons that Mr. Tompkins learn"

Deadline, Chapters 3, 4 and 5

--Originally published at TI2011 – Miguel’s Blog

Chapter 3 starts with Mr. Tompkins waking up in a room he hadn’t seen before, however, he had seen the furniture in the room. Apparently, his new job came with many benefits, one of which was that the job pays really well. After that, Lahksa mentioned more details about Morovia. Morovia somehow had fifteen hundred highly skilled software engineers ready to work under Mr. T. She explained that Morovia used to be a communist nation in the past, and one of the few benefits of being communist was the good education. Mr. T had fifteen hundred people and only 6 projects to do. That’s way too many people, so Mr. Tompkins has an idea of running an experiment. I actually found this really interesting. There’s so much you can learn from it: the correct size of teams, the correct time frame, the correct age, etc. While I find this very intriguing, it’s kind of like using the employees as toys or test subjects. But maybe the benefits obtained by the experiment are worth it. Does the end justify the means?

“It’s all yours, Webster. You have got all of Morovia to play with.”

At the beginning of chapter 4, Lahksa hands Mr. Tompkins a journal for him to write everything he learns during the experiment. Mr. T is also introduced to his assistant. The first project Mr. T has to work on is the building of the CD-ROM plant. It’s actually not a software engineering project, but he still has to do it. Next, he has a talk with the construction manager, Mr. Mopoulka.

I find the talk as a really good example of why fear doesn’t work as motivation. There’s a problem with the terrain so the construction can take up to 25 weeks. This is obviously not

Continue reading "Deadline, Chapters 3, 4 and 5"

“I don’t even know where Morovia is” – Chapter 3, 4 & 5

--Originally published at Meeting the Deadline

Yakko’s meme can be found in his famous song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x88Z5txBc7w

So, we meet again. I thought I wouldn’t see you here again. Glad you stayed close.

Now that we are all here, we must continue our learning path with exactly the right question: “Where the f*ck is Morovia?”, as Mr. T would’ve said if I was the one writing The Deadline hehe.

Aside from kidding, Mr. T seemed very confused at the beginning of chapter 3 by waking up in a foreign country in the middle of, apparently, nowhere.

Little by little the details of his new endeavor are explained to him by the friendly but honest words of Hoolihan. He is there to manage a huge ton of people, and to help Morovia succeed in the software industry. He’d have everything he’d need, from tools to people.
And yes, money is guaranteed for Mr. T, but most importantly, he’ll enjoy the thrill of the thing and a feeling of achievement (at least that’s what Hoolihan tells him).

Carefully, he accepts the offer, but makes very specific notes about his requirements (yes, my people, this is our first lesson from today):

  • In a team, people must be co-located. There’s no productivity when people are scattered.
  • The manager requires final word over all schedules. One project can only succeed if the time organization is carefully done.
  • When there are too many people for so many projects, a manager can only experiment with the output.

And that’s exactly how he gains his motivation. Morovia has so many available people and just a handful of projects. What could he do with all that extra workers?

The first Project Management Laboratory, a magical place where several projects can be realized under certain conditions in order to study how

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Mundo Animal on Twitter: "“Dog, el perro constructor”. http://t.co ...
Continue reading "“I don’t even know where Morovia is” – Chapter 3, 4 & 5"

Welcome to Silikon Valejit

--Originally published at TI2011 – Press enter to continue…

Yeah, you read right, Silikon Valejit, and nope, I'm not talking about the Silicon Valley in San Francisco, California. I'm talking about Silikon Valejit in Morovia, somewhere near Greece (maybe). Some island somewhere around there! This faithful representation was created by me thanks to google maps and paint! Morovia is your common and (not that) … Continue reading Welcome to Silikon Valejit

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