This is why I loved when one company implemented Jira. The PMs and team leads hated it, as they had preferred tracking things in spreadsheets, and emailing them around. The PMs and TLs both insisted that we not use Jira, but I refused.
PM: we need to do X
Bill: there's no Jira
PM: yes, but do the work anyway
Bill: I'll raise a Jira
PM: NO! Twelfth floor will go crazy when they see new Jiras being raised! No new Jiras!
Bill: No Jiras, no work. Fine by me
PM: But we need the work done!
Bill: then you need a Jira
The PM and Tl both flat out admitted that the problem was that opening Jiras will raise the visibility of the problems to senior management, who would see how much work remains to be done
TL: If we don't do X, the customer won't close out the project, and I'll have to explain it to the execs!
Bill: and... this is a problem, somehow?
It was amusing watching them try to figure out how to reprimand me because I was refusing to violate company process.
I could have said Jira, ClearQuest, BugTrak, SMRF, or pretty much any application lifecycle system that tracks project status.
I have dozens of anecdotes where the reason I didn't get reprimanded, or a reprimand was blocked was because project management, and/or middle level management, was playing games to hide the actual project status from higher level management.
When execs discover that the action I'd taken was to handle a safety case, and was being reprimanded because I'd been explicitly ordered to NOT worry about safety, they demand to know why I'd been ordered not to. And when the PM says "we don't have the budget to handle safety", they turn white, I'm dismissed from the room, and a week later, there's a top-down audit ordered of the entire project.
I'm happy to say that I have triggered tens of millions of dollars of audits over the years, easily.
Absolutely! If your opponent is smart, they will decline to provide future receipts. Dumb opponents just send an email with incriminating evidence that can be used against them in a court of law.
This is why I loved when one company implemented Jira. The PMs and team leads hated it, as they had preferred tracking things in spreadsheets, and emailing them around. The PMs and TLs both insisted that we not use Jira, but I refused.
PM: we need to do X
Bill: there's no Jira
PM: yes, but do the work anyway
Bill: I'll raise a Jira
PM: NO! Twelfth floor will go crazy when they see new Jiras being raised! No new Jiras!
Bill: No Jiras, no work. Fine by me
PM: But we need the work done!
Bill: then you need a Jira
The PM and Tl both flat out admitted that the problem was that opening Jiras will raise the visibility of the problems to senior management, who would see how much work remains to be done
TL: If we don't do X, the customer won't close out the project, and I'll have to explain it to the execs!
Bill: and... this is a problem, somehow?
It was amusing watching them try to figure out how to reprimand me because I was refusing to violate company process.
s/Jira/Specifications ... my life :D
I could have said Jira, ClearQuest, BugTrak, SMRF, or pretty much any application lifecycle system that tracks project status.
I have dozens of anecdotes where the reason I didn't get reprimanded, or a reprimand was blocked was because project management, and/or middle level management, was playing games to hide the actual project status from higher level management.
When execs discover that the action I'd taken was to handle a safety case, and was being reprimanded because I'd been explicitly ordered to NOT worry about safety, they demand to know why I'd been ordered not to. And when the PM says "we don't have the budget to handle safety", they turn white, I'm dismissed from the room, and a week later, there's a top-down audit ordered of the entire project.
I'm happy to say that I have triggered tens of millions of dollars of audits over the years, easily.
Unlike the queens gambit, this move pays off every time.
Absolutely! If your opponent is smart, they will decline to provide future receipts. Dumb opponents just send an email with incriminating evidence that can be used against them in a court of law.