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Make Boring Plans

skamille.medium.com

11–20 of 23 posts

Re: Make Boring Plans

#11
I think that "boring" is being used here as shorthand for well known and predictable, which are attributes that I would rate highly when developing a platform or trying to work on a novel problem.

I believe a contributor to why choosing boring is hard is that often the problem we encounter in software is not new or unique, but may still the be first time a team/company is attempting it. Therefore, unless you know your company has the patience for unforeseen technical difficulties, and that your team has the skillset to overcome any fundamental challenges posed by the technology chosen, even if the technology is a better fit for a problem, it may not be a good match for the organisation.

Re: Make Boring Plans

#12
post #8

What developers think when they hear 'aggressive timeline': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OnoxKotPQ What managers think: https://youtu.be/-TKjwblp1XI?t=1373 Point being, nobody gets a documentary about themselves made for delivering against a boring deadline.

Who needs a documentary written about them?

People say they want to be famous, what they want is the adoration of their peers. When they find out the two aren't the same thing, they often have a hard time of it. Being famous means you can't have a slice of cake in peace while you contemplate the news your doctor just gave you. It means everyone gets to have an opinion about every setback you experience from then on.

Famous people are hated all the time. Or adored by people who are a worse fate than being hated.

Re: Make Boring Plans

#13
post #8

What developers think when they hear 'aggressive timeline': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OnoxKotPQ What managers think: https://youtu.be/-TKjwblp1XI?t=1373 Point being, nobody gets a documentary about themselves made for delivering against a boring deadline.

I was in a come to Jesus meeting where they literally played https://youtu.be/ry55--J4_VQ and said “this is what we need you to do”.

Re: Make Boring Plans

#15
post #8

What developers think when they hear 'aggressive timeline': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OnoxKotPQ What managers think: https://youtu.be/-TKjwblp1XI?t=1373 Point being, nobody gets a documentary about themselves made for delivering against a boring deadline.

> What managers think

You're telling me that isn't satire?

Re: Make Boring Plans

#17
post #8

What developers think when they hear 'aggressive timeline': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OnoxKotPQ What managers think: https://youtu.be/-TKjwblp1XI?t=1373 Point being, nobody gets a documentary about themselves made for delivering against a boring deadline.

Kind of amusing to find out that Myers declared personal bankruptcy, losing his stake in C.C. Myers and going on to found Myers and Sons instead. C.C. Myers (the old company) then went on to become employee-owned and later declare bankruptcy itself in 2016. Myers and Sons seems to still be going strong.

Re: Make Boring Plans

#18
post #7

Boring doesn't work if the solution you've picked has flaws that the new technology addresses out-of-the-box. You'll constantly get into arguments about why we're not deploying the new upcoming thing that obviously fixes the issue. At some point you'll need to switch over anyways, its better to get production battle experience by trying the new tech early and rolling it out where it makes sense. It avoids internal fa…

> Boring doesn't work if the solution you've picked has flaws that the new technology addresses out-of-the-box. Problem is, the old thing has known benefits and known flaws, while the new thing has known benefits but unknown flaws.

> while the new thing has known benefits but unknown flaws

I think I'd claim the new thing has _claimed_ benefits. Very often those benefits turn out to be nonsense, driven by marketing and hype cycles.

By a Tesla, it has Auto Pilot!

By autopilot we just mean some slightly more advanced driver assist, it's not actually autopilot, and if you treat it as such you're probably going to die, at best.

Re: Make Boring Plans

#20
post #13
post #8

What developers think when they hear 'aggressive timeline': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OnoxKotPQ What managers think: https://youtu.be/-TKjwblp1XI?t=1373 Point being, nobody gets a documentary about themselves made for delivering against a boring deadline.

I was in a come to Jesus meeting where they literally played https://youtu.be/ry55--J4_VQ and said “this is what we need you to do”.

That is excellent, did you feel like you were inside some real-life meeting performance art? Did you brew the coffee?
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