Some process maturity
Anybody remotely associated with software industry would take this title with a pinch of salt. Ofcourse there are various metrics, methodologies, process all documented but never used. Its not as though these processes or metrics are never used, it just that the usage is generally dependent on the user. Is it really helping the developer achieve anything, how valuable is it to spend time documenting or measuring something?
Anyway process or no-process a software engineers life would be a mess without two golden ducks 'ctrl-c + ctrl-v' and 'google'. Just imagine surviving for a week without google.
Now i have a friend who works with him, who deserves tons of accolades for he has shown exemplary valour in adhering to process. The first words you would have learned in IT industry is "We have all our process in place, and as such we would not need to reinvent the wheel" what it means is try not to act smart.....just do what we say. If only chimps could you have read a document and operated windows we would have lost our jobs.
Anyway back to the story, my friend here decided that he cook upma, and as usual he sought help from one of his golden ducks. He pulled out a a website on how to prepare Upma
Here are the instructions...
1. Chop onion, garlic and ginger into small pieces.
2. Chop the remaining vegetables into cube size and boil them.
3. Heat oil on a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop add chana dhal and urad
dhal. When they turn golden brown, add onion, ginger and garlic. When the onion
turns golden brown, add the shredded wheat.
4. Add hot water and cooked vegetables.
5. Stir continuously for 5 minutes and cover with lid and turn off the stove. Let it
cool on the remaining heat.
Now being process oriented he was, he followed all the steps sacrilegeously without missing any of the steps. He was so meticoulous that he would boil water (seperately) and add it to the shredded wheat as opposed to adding water and allowing it to boil. Remember "never reinvent the wheel" !! 30mins later the most alluring upma was ready...only glitch something was amiss... Uh ah...you guessed it right..!! There was no salt.
Trust me this is not my friends mistake the website apparently had overlooked this important ingredient. But process oriented that he is...he duly left a feedback - 'when should the salt be added ?' Accordingly this website took his feedback and the new recipe does have a line item to add salt now. I think is what CMM Level 5 maturity - continous improvement through feedback !!
Anyway process or no-process a software engineers life would be a mess without two golden ducks 'ctrl-c + ctrl-v' and 'google'. Just imagine surviving for a week without google.
Now i have a friend who works with him, who deserves tons of accolades for he has shown exemplary valour in adhering to process. The first words you would have learned in IT industry is "We have all our process in place, and as such we would not need to reinvent the wheel" what it means is try not to act smart.....just do what we say. If only chimps could you have read a document and operated windows we would have lost our jobs.
Anyway back to the story, my friend here decided that he cook upma, and as usual he sought help from one of his golden ducks. He pulled out a a website on how to prepare Upma
Here are the instructions...
1. Chop onion, garlic and ginger into small pieces.
2. Chop the remaining vegetables into cube size and boil them.
3. Heat oil on a pan and add mustard seeds. When they pop add chana dhal and urad
dhal. When they turn golden brown, add onion, ginger and garlic. When the onion
turns golden brown, add the shredded wheat.
4. Add hot water and cooked vegetables.
5. Stir continuously for 5 minutes and cover with lid and turn off the stove. Let it
cool on the remaining heat.
Now being process oriented he was, he followed all the steps sacrilegeously without missing any of the steps. He was so meticoulous that he would boil water (seperately) and add it to the shredded wheat as opposed to adding water and allowing it to boil. Remember "never reinvent the wheel" !! 30mins later the most alluring upma was ready...only glitch something was amiss... Uh ah...you guessed it right..!! There was no salt.
Trust me this is not my friends mistake the website apparently had overlooked this important ingredient. But process oriented that he is...he duly left a feedback - 'when should the salt be added ?' Accordingly this website took his feedback and the new recipe does have a line item to add salt now. I think is what CMM Level 5 maturity - continous improvement through feedback !!
posted by Sunil B at 1:19 PM
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