Off late I have become really skeptic about work and am unable to see any reasoning or sense in some decisions which made me believe that I was getting heavily influenced by Dilbert comic strips. But honestly, those strips are sooo similar to what I experience at work, sometimes its spooky...So, Dilbert I thought was very reflective of a typical technology setup.I just returned from my trip to SFO. Since I arrived mid day, I decided to take a bus back to work rather than bother someone by asking them to pick me up. Its was a really good experience taking the bus...I did not have any mission critical stuff at work and I was very relaxed...so the frequent stops made by the bus which usually irritate me were no longer that big a deal. The bus driver seemed pretty stressed and evidently displeased by his day at work. He was in a mood to share it with fellow passengers...and I was in a mood to absorb all that he had to let out. Suddenly his story sounded very very similar to what I have been cribbing about at work :))
Driver says : "These people who make the schedule expect me to cover city roads and suburb roads in the same time. They just go by distance...They do not understand concept of traffic. I somehow fall behind the schedule even if i exceed speed limits... They never seem to understand that at every stop there is some activity which consumes more time than accounted for. Like passengers with bicycles, or disabilities which need special treatment."
Me thinks: "Not sure how these people schedule us on projects? They expect both a simple bug fix and a complete project in the same time. They do not think of consequences or criticality of projects. Dont they understand no 2 software projects are the same? The developer can slip of schedule...the build can be broken...there can be randomizing support issues...why do these not go into schedule?"
Driver says: "Has the person who make the bus schedule ever driven a bus? Does he know how stressful and a not so fun job it is?"
Me thinks: "Have the people who schedule me ever done software development? Why do they not understand that everything cannot be completed in predetermined timelines. We need some sort of estimation process where we can say how long we think this project will take to do"
Driver says: " All these people know is cut corners. Reduce the driver and buses plying and expect same service by compressing bus schedules to maintain similar service"
Me thinks: "All I hear now is.... "Oh.you cannot get it done in 2 weeks...But we do need it. Lets get some off shore resource on it."....Why the hell dont you understand adding more resources is not always useful. All they want is deliver more software using same people on site and add more people off shore...little do they account that those people need training and the communication overhead is a reaaaalll painnn. But all that people above me see is...deliver more...hire less here..."
At the end of the bus ride, I could completely relate to this driver... And started believing...that there is a Dilbert everywhere.
What I did not know is how/what I would have done if i were in his/my leadership team and I had to make these decisions delicately balancing business and employee satisfaction?? I think I would have done something different? Maybe i will get an an opportunity to do that sooon....Wish our leadership was also elected like the next President...Then even I could get onto the "Change we can believe in" campaign and become the next Obama :)). That will be the subject of a whole new blog :)
