The path of peace and the path of war in IT projects
I have been working as an IT project manager since 2006, and now I am the head of the Dinabot start-up project. During this time I have seen many successes, but I have seen even more failures. These failures, in my opinion, are often associated not so much with the applied technologies, as with the narrow picture of the world leaders. And I would like more project managers to be able to rise above technology and, thus, make better decisions.
Today we are drunk Agile! Who is not drunk, will be drunk tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. And it's great!
Here is a photo from my last project, which was managed according to Agile principles:
')
Agile sounds so fabulous that some are afraid to use it! The campaign turns out that using Agile is not as easy as it is written. But, all the same, we will use it, since there is no escape from the trend. Customers, too, get drunk and make us IT-coves use Agile. We will use it despite failures, blaming us for doing something wrong, correcting our technologies, changing people. Unfortunately, often blindly use ...
Like after drinking, sometimes it becomes bad, and after some such Agile projects, someone is not at all having fun. Systems are not implemented, money is spent, people are tired.
No pills for all diseases. There are no universal values. Therefore, it is necessary to expand your picture of the world and apply different strategies and tactics depending on the situation.
Agile carries: openness, trust, cooperation, flexibility. This is the way of "peace" on the project! What does the Falls bring? Until the path of "peace" appeared, it was difficult to understand. The waterfall was almost the only right way. But now it is clear, Waterfall is the way of “war”! “When everyone in the Middle Kingdom finds out that the beautiful is beautiful, the ugly appears. When everyone knows that good is good, evil also arises. Therefore, being and non-being create each other, the difficult and easy create each other, the long and the short correlate, the high and the low are mutually defined, the sounds merge, they come into harmony, the previous and the next follow each other. ”(Lao Tzu. Dao de Ching). Without the concept of war, we do not understand the world, because It is known: "If you want peace, prepare for war."
In this war there is an enemy - this is the current organizational and technical system of the Customer. I will not explain what it is, read the old Soviet GOST (about ACS), but this is not just software! The more integral and effective this system is, the more it will resist, the harder it is to defeat, the more it will have allies. This system resists changes that threaten her life. People are her soldiers, they are not individually to blame for the war. This is not a war between the contractor and the customer, because on the side of the customer there are also supporters of changes, otherwise this war is meaningless. Unlike territorial wars, the enemy in the IT war is not so clearly visible, the commander of the enemy is not clearly defined, people and resources are not so strictly distributed between the parties. But just this war is insidious!
In this war there is a goal - to defeat the enemy and bring a new order to its territory with the help of the new system.
In this war there is a battlefield (territory) - these are the processes, org structures, information flows that are to be automated, changed during the implementation.
There is intelligence in this war - it begins at the stage of the survey and includes constant interaction with the customer, transferring to his side supporters of the old system.
There is defense in this war - these are the results of the first stages of the Waterfall, preceding the introduction - contracts, statutes, project management plans, which serve to protect the project from the damaging effects of the enemy, to protect the team in case of retreat.
In this war, there are attacks and battles - this is the very process of introduction, with local victories and defeats, offensives and wastes.
In this war there is a strategy, there is tactics and maneuvers, there is politics and negotiations.
And with the advent of Agile, is it all gone? No more enemy? We will live together in peace, in joy and openness to develop and implement information systems? NOT!!!
“When the government is calm, the people become ingenuous. When the government is active, the people become unhappy. Oh misfortune! It is a pillar of happiness. Oh happiness!
It is a misfortune. Who knows their boundaries? They do not have constancy. Justice again turns into cunning, good into evil. ”(Lao Tzu. Tao de Jing)
Previously, we did not comprehend the Falls, because there was no agile. We fought, not knowing what we were fighting for. Therefore, we tried to show friendship and failed projects, reproached ourselves and became tougher. Now that Agile values ​​have appeared, we can not only use them. But also to re-recognize the values ​​of the Falls. The waterfall will not die, but will become stronger, clearer, more defined. Agile gives us the opportunity to strengthen the martial art of the Falls, because bares it.
The military approach to the project gives the project manager a new vision, he feels himself a Commander, he sees not just the IT system (software + infrastructure), but examines the wider battlefield: he sees the enemy, sees the soldier (his and others), thinks about possible victims (risks), strategies and tactics, and this vision is more systematic, complex, and not patchwork. “The commander hesitates because he does not see victory. To see a victory, you need to look at it without fuss. Look not at the solution, but at the picture of the world. The decision will see itself. The correct decision, obtained by looking at the picture of the world, is evident in its correctness. It causes no doubt, but only a surprise: and how I didn’t see it before ”(Vladimir Tarasov. The art of managerial struggle).
The military approach forces the project manager to possess more knowledge, experience and tools than project methodologies usually give. If before the start of the project you understand that there will be war in it, if you understand that there is an enemy and you must use the path of war, then the path of peace opens and you can win the war as Sun Tzu said: “Therefore, those who know how to wage war conquer someone else’s army without fighting; takes foreign fortresses without besieging; crushes a foreign state, not holding his army for a long time. He always keeps everything intact, and this disputes the power in the Middle Kingdom. Therefore, it is possible, without blunting weapons, to have a benefit: this is the rule of strategic attack ”(Sun Tzu. The Art of War).
Anyone who does not know how to wage this war turns the project into a meat grinder! Regardless of the technology Agile or Waterfall he uses.
Today we are drunk Agile! Who is not drunk, will be drunk tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. And it's great!
Here is a photo from my last project, which was managed according to Agile principles:
')
Agile sounds so fabulous that some are afraid to use it! The campaign turns out that using Agile is not as easy as it is written. But, all the same, we will use it, since there is no escape from the trend. Customers, too, get drunk and make us IT-coves use Agile. We will use it despite failures, blaming us for doing something wrong, correcting our technologies, changing people. Unfortunately, often blindly use ...
Like after drinking, sometimes it becomes bad, and after some such Agile projects, someone is not at all having fun. Systems are not implemented, money is spent, people are tired.
No pills for all diseases. There are no universal values. Therefore, it is necessary to expand your picture of the world and apply different strategies and tactics depending on the situation.
Agile carries: openness, trust, cooperation, flexibility. This is the way of "peace" on the project! What does the Falls bring? Until the path of "peace" appeared, it was difficult to understand. The waterfall was almost the only right way. But now it is clear, Waterfall is the way of “war”! “When everyone in the Middle Kingdom finds out that the beautiful is beautiful, the ugly appears. When everyone knows that good is good, evil also arises. Therefore, being and non-being create each other, the difficult and easy create each other, the long and the short correlate, the high and the low are mutually defined, the sounds merge, they come into harmony, the previous and the next follow each other. ”(Lao Tzu. Dao de Ching). Without the concept of war, we do not understand the world, because It is known: "If you want peace, prepare for war."
In this war there is an enemy - this is the current organizational and technical system of the Customer. I will not explain what it is, read the old Soviet GOST (about ACS), but this is not just software! The more integral and effective this system is, the more it will resist, the harder it is to defeat, the more it will have allies. This system resists changes that threaten her life. People are her soldiers, they are not individually to blame for the war. This is not a war between the contractor and the customer, because on the side of the customer there are also supporters of changes, otherwise this war is meaningless. Unlike territorial wars, the enemy in the IT war is not so clearly visible, the commander of the enemy is not clearly defined, people and resources are not so strictly distributed between the parties. But just this war is insidious!
In this war there is a goal - to defeat the enemy and bring a new order to its territory with the help of the new system.
In this war there is a battlefield (territory) - these are the processes, org structures, information flows that are to be automated, changed during the implementation.
There is intelligence in this war - it begins at the stage of the survey and includes constant interaction with the customer, transferring to his side supporters of the old system.
There is defense in this war - these are the results of the first stages of the Waterfall, preceding the introduction - contracts, statutes, project management plans, which serve to protect the project from the damaging effects of the enemy, to protect the team in case of retreat.
In this war, there are attacks and battles - this is the very process of introduction, with local victories and defeats, offensives and wastes.
In this war there is a strategy, there is tactics and maneuvers, there is politics and negotiations.
And with the advent of Agile, is it all gone? No more enemy? We will live together in peace, in joy and openness to develop and implement information systems? NOT!!!
“When the government is calm, the people become ingenuous. When the government is active, the people become unhappy. Oh misfortune! It is a pillar of happiness. Oh happiness!
It is a misfortune. Who knows their boundaries? They do not have constancy. Justice again turns into cunning, good into evil. ”(Lao Tzu. Tao de Jing)
Previously, we did not comprehend the Falls, because there was no agile. We fought, not knowing what we were fighting for. Therefore, we tried to show friendship and failed projects, reproached ourselves and became tougher. Now that Agile values ​​have appeared, we can not only use them. But also to re-recognize the values ​​of the Falls. The waterfall will not die, but will become stronger, clearer, more defined. Agile gives us the opportunity to strengthen the martial art of the Falls, because bares it.
The military approach to the project gives the project manager a new vision, he feels himself a Commander, he sees not just the IT system (software + infrastructure), but examines the wider battlefield: he sees the enemy, sees the soldier (his and others), thinks about possible victims (risks), strategies and tactics, and this vision is more systematic, complex, and not patchwork. “The commander hesitates because he does not see victory. To see a victory, you need to look at it without fuss. Look not at the solution, but at the picture of the world. The decision will see itself. The correct decision, obtained by looking at the picture of the world, is evident in its correctness. It causes no doubt, but only a surprise: and how I didn’t see it before ”(Vladimir Tarasov. The art of managerial struggle).
The military approach forces the project manager to possess more knowledge, experience and tools than project methodologies usually give. If before the start of the project you understand that there will be war in it, if you understand that there is an enemy and you must use the path of war, then the path of peace opens and you can win the war as Sun Tzu said: “Therefore, those who know how to wage war conquer someone else’s army without fighting; takes foreign fortresses without besieging; crushes a foreign state, not holding his army for a long time. He always keeps everything intact, and this disputes the power in the Middle Kingdom. Therefore, it is possible, without blunting weapons, to have a benefit: this is the rule of strategic attack ”(Sun Tzu. The Art of War).
Anyone who does not know how to wage this war turns the project into a meat grinder! Regardless of the technology Agile or Waterfall he uses.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/458698/
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