Pushing clouds with chopsticks
Perhaps if I hadn’t had a previous career outside of software it wouldn’t bug me so much, but I find the nebulous, amorphous task of software development thoroughly frustrating. It was back around 2003 that I was having a conversation about a project with my project manager at the time (who was old-school yet awesome), and I told her, “It’s really like trying to push a big cloud and all I have are two chopsticks.” I’m closing out my 13th or 14th year in software development, and I still feel this way. Even with all the insight, feedback, and visibility into a project that Agile Software Development provides me (and yes, real Agile, before anyone bothers to say that I feel this way only because I’m not doing full Agile Software Development), I’m still frustrated by how unwieldy the whole practice can be.
Is that IT??
Barry, you need to elaborate on this. I get the feeling that you know what you’re talking about, so it’s a shame that you don’t say more.
I’m especially curious to hear about how a career outside of software compares to one inside.
Comment by Jacob Tjoernholm — October 30, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
Jacob, thanks for commenting! Yes, there’s lots to say about the topic. I do need to write more about it; trying to break a bit of inertia in my blogging. Feedback like this helps, so thanks again!
Comment by Barry Hawkins — October 31, 2008 @ 9:39 am