The Power of Positive Thinking (to ruin your next project)
When we think of successful software projects, we tend to envision an 80’s-style montage of the “can-do” spirit in action – testers, developers and management working together to overcome insurmountable odds. High-fives galore! Queue the inspirational music…
Not exactly. In the real world, there’s a real chance that your software project will fail. And it’s up to people within these organizations (usually testers) to let someone know of the impending failure. They will be called pessimists – and they are vilified in the movies – but they are a vital component of every software organization.
Over at StickyMinds, Fiona Charles dealt with this subject in her latest column, “Negative Positive.” In it she mentions several books that also deal with the dangers of positive thinking. Among them are Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich, and Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects by Tom Demarco and Timothy Lister. Here’s the takeaway:
So powerful is our belief that we will get what we want so long as we think positively, that we ignore or actively reject contrary evidence or uncomfortable suspicions. People who try to raise and deal with risks or unpalatable truths are stigmatized as whiners.
Sound familiar? If you’re a software tester or project manager who cares about communicating and managing project risks, you’ve likely been on the receiving end of just that sort of blame. You’ve probably seen projects fail because management wouldn’t listen to anyone who suggested failure was coming if they didn’t act to prevent it.
So testers, whine away! The success of your next project depends on it.
