It's Embarrassing!!!!

We can do better!

Last august Toyota announces a major Prius software bug and recall
Last November Microsoft announce major changes in management and delays in Vista
This March the FBI announces more delay in their $500 million upgrade
This April Microsoft announces more delays in Vista
...

Every company has them. Delays due to engineering schedule slips are common place. Significant Quality issues due to inadequate testing or integration.

I want to acknowledge we are all working on our own stuff. At first glance maybe you should not care if Microsoft has another delay. We are used to it. They are not us. They might even be the enemy and you may take joy from their misplanning. I am here to ask you to reconsider.

Whether you like it or not we are part of an industry. From the Linux developers to Windows developers, from embedded to supercomputer, from Assembly language to business logic we are failing. No one can depend on us. Not our customers. Not our sales people. Not ourselves.

One might say the problems stem from the youth of our industry or the rapidness of change. You might want to blame hungry investors and executives who have become accustomed to setting impossibles goals assuming that no matter what date is set won't be made. Still other might indict the workforce for not being able to plan or not working hard enough.

I will suggest we are all to blame. We can do better. Dogma and standards will not win the day here but results will. I believe there are two things that can make the greatest difference between predictability and the status quo:

• Leadership
• Education

Without leadership from investors, executives and managers nothing will ever change. You have to vote for predictability to make change. You have to know it will take time to achieve. You have to know it will require tough decisions like making priorities.

Without education we will never be better. We have to start training technologist to be leaders in school. We cannot expect them to magically develop those skills in the work force. We have to train engineers before we ask them to be managers.

Dr. Dobbs has just published an article I wrote on some of the things it takes to be a good manager in their June issue. Check it out. It is a good way to start the dialog. Feel free to contact me on how we can start to change the industry (mark@heavenstoneinc.com).

More Later ...