The Yourdon Report » death march

Extreme Project Management in Rome

ed — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:52:31 +0000

I spent most of last week in Rome, presenting a three-day seminar on “Extreme Project Management” for Technology Transfer Institute. If you were stuck in some other part of the world, or if you couldn’t persuade your boss to send you to Rome, you can click here to view and download the 7MB) PDF version of the presentation on SlideShare.Net, which has a whole bunch of embedded links to other presentations, publications, books, articles, websites, etc.

Extreme Project Management, Nov 2010

ed — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 01:04:12 +0000

I spent most of last week in Rome, presenting a three-day seminar on “Extreme Project Management” for Technology Transfer Institute. If you were stuck in some other part of the world, or if you couldn’t persuade your boss to send you to Rome, you can click here to view and download the 25MB) PDF version of the presentation on SlideShare.Net, which has a whole bunch of embedded links to other presentations, publications, books, articles, websites, etc.

Boston SPIN talk: Death March Projects in Today’s Hard Times

ed — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:07:16 +0000

I’m giving a one-hour presentation Tues evening (Mar 16th) on “Death March Projects in Today’s Hard Times,” at the regular monthly meeting of Boston’s Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) chapter. It will take place in one of the buildings of MITRE’s campus in Bedford, MA, somewhere in the vast wilderness north of Route 128. You can get the details, including schedule and directions on how to find the place, by clicking here.

Even if my presentation is utterly boring, there will be free pizza and snacks … but apparently no free beer. Hey, you can’t have everything…

In a desperate attempt to keep my presentation from putting you to sleep within the first 30 seconds, I’m considering doing cartwheels across the room, and perhaps a hand-stand on the lectern. I’ve also included some video clips at unexpected spots in the presentation, which will hopefully draw a few giggles, snorts, and guffaws. And I’ve sent an email invitation to Madonna, asking her to join us for a cameo presentation … but she hasn’t responded thus far.

If you can’t join us in beautiful downtown Bedford for the event, you can download a PDF version of the presentation — though it doesn’t contain the video clips. Don’t complain: if you want the whole package, you gotta be there in person…

To download the 5.21 megabyte PDF file, click on the icon below, or click here.

“Death March” seminar in Rome

ed — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:45:17 +0000

I’m here in Rome this week, presenting a two-day seminar on “Managing Death-March Projects” for Technology Transfer Institute. You should be there so you can hear whatever clever jokes may occur to me while I’m presenting my material, as well as the comments and questions from the other participants. But if you’re stuck in some other part of the world, or you couldn’t persuade your boss to send you to Rome, you can click here to download the (17MB) PDF version of the presentation, which has a whole bunch of embedded links to other presentations, publications, books, articles, websites, etc.

Sections 2.4 and 2.5 of “Death March” now uploaded

ed — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:16:26 +0000

As noted in previous blog postings, I’ve begun writing a new, updated edition of my Death March book, which was last updated in 2003.Having already uploaded the Table of Contents, Preface, and Chapter 1, and the first few sections to Chapter 2, I’ve now uploaded section 2.4, which is entitled “Key issues that lead to political disagreements,” and a rough outline/draft of section 2.5, tentatively titled “The good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of death-march projects in the current recession.”

I hope to continue revision and the rest of Chapter 2 over the next week, though I’ll have to fit that in with jury duty, which starts on Monday, Mar 29th. Hopefully I won’t end up in an all-consuming, high-profile case, and will be able to hunker down in a corner with my laptop to get some writing done…

All of this is on a separate website from this blog — partly because I’m using Apple’s iWeb development tool to generate new content quickly and easily (with hyperlinks, graphic images, YouTube clips, Google Maps, RSS feed, and various other widgets), and partly to make it password-protected in order to keep spammers and hackers out.

Thus, if you’d like to see the new material as it evolves, and/or if you’d like to provide feedback and commentary, you’ll need to send an email message to ed [at] yourdon [dot] com. I’ll send back an email message with URL, user-id, and password.

Section 2.3 of “Death March” now uploaded

ed — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:17:49 +0000

As noted in previous blog postings, I’ve begun writing a new, updated edition of my Death March book, which was last updated in 2003.Having already uploaded the Table of Contents, Preface, and Chapter 1, and the first couple of sections to Chapter 2, I’ve now uploaded section 2.3, which is entitled “Levels of commitment in death march project teams.”

I hope to continue writing/revising/uploading the remaining sections of Chapter 2 over the next week, though I’ll have to fit that in with jury duty, which starts on Monday, Mar 29th. Hopefully I won’t end up in an all-consuming, high-profile case, and will be able to hunker down in a corner with my laptop to get some writing done…

Section 2.2 of “Death March” now uploaded

ed — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:46:04 +0000

I hope to continue writing/revising/uploading the remaining sections of Chapter 2 over the next week or two, though I’ll have to fit that in with jury duty, which starts next Monday. Hopefully I won’t end up in an all-consuming, high-profile case, and will be able to hunker down in a corner with my laptop to get some writing done…

Section 2.1 of “Death March” now uploaded

ed — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:31:17 +0000

As noted in a previous blog posting, I’ve begun writing a new, updated edition of my Death March book, which was last updated in 2003.Having already uploaded the Table of Contents, Preface, and Chapter 1, and overview/intro to Chapter 2, I’ve now uploaded section 2.1, which is entitled “Identifying the Political Players in the Project.”

I expect to write/revise/upload the remaining sections of Chapter 2 over the next week or so, though I’ll probably be offline for the next four days, while I fly out to Salt Lake City for a family visit.

Overview of Chapter 2 now posted, for “Death March”, 3rd edition

ed — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:59:12 +0000

As noted in a previous blog posting, I’ve begun writing a new, updated edition of my Death March book, which was last updated in 2003.

Having already uploaded the Table of Contents, Preface, and Chapter 1, I’ve now uploaded the overview/intro to Chapter 2. I expect to write/revise/upload individual sections of Chapter 2 over the next week or so, though I may be offline for a 4-day weekend while I fly out to Salt Lake City for a family visit.

Need Death March examples, case studies, war stories, interviews

ed — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:46:47 +0000

As I’ve pointed out in the past few blog postings, I’m updating and revising the Death March book that I last published in 2003.

While I’ve got plenty of new material of my own to add, I’m also looking for new case studies, war stories, gossip, examples, feedback, and commentary from readers, reviewers, and real-world software developers who are currently involved in a death-march project.

If you’d like me to visit your death march project and talk to some of the people (and/or some of the business users), let me know. If you’d like give me an off-the-record commentary on just how crazy things really are (which may be entirely different than the public statements made by your employer), let me know and I will keep everything confidential unless you explicitly tell me that it’s okay to incorporate into the book.

The easiest way to reach me is by email at ed [at] yourdon [dot] com. But if you’re industrious enough, you can probably also figure out how to reach me via Twitter, Facebook, or even an old-fashioned phone call.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Finished Chapter 1 of “Death March,” 3rd edition

ed — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:42:25 +0000

As noted in a previous blog posting, I’ve begun writing a new, updated edition of my Death March book, which was last updated in 2003.

Having already uploaded the Table of Contents, and preface, I’ve now finished Chapter 1, which includes a new section entitled “Why Are Today’s Death-March Projects Different Than The Ones In The Past?”

Thus, if you’d like to see the new material as it evolves, and/or if you’d like to provide feedback and commentary, you’ll need to send an email message to ed at yourdon dot com. I’ll send back an email message with URL, user-id, and password.

Thanks!

New material uploaded for “Death March”, 3rd edition

ed — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:40:37 +0000

As noted in a previous blog, I’ve begun writing a new, updated edition of my Death March book, which was last updated in 2003.

Having already uploaded the Table of Contents, a preface, and the first two sections (one of which is completely new) of Chapter 1, I’ve now added a third section: “Categories of Death March Projects”.

All of this is on a separate website from this blog — partly because I’m using Apple’s iWeb development tool to generate new content quickly and easily, and partly to make it password-protected in order to keep spammers and hackers out. Thus, if you’d like to see the new material as it evolves, and/or if you’d like to provide feedback and commentary, you’ll need to send an email message to ed at yourdon dot com. I’ll send back an email message with URL, user-id, and password.Thanks!