Delivering the Impossible

Software is consuming nearly every aspect of our lives - from dating and finance to delivering food. There’s never been a more important time to get better at delivering software. To stay competitive, to survive, we need our software projects to succeed. But far too often, projects that should have succeeded fail. They fail because we can’t see what is going on in them. They fail because we are seeing them in the wrong way. The message of this book is that we need to adopt the right point of view. Seeing things from the right point of view will make us smarter. It will allow us to successfully deliver projects, even when they seem impossible. Part 1 discusses seven ways of seeing software development projects that can make us smarter. Part 2 talks about unhelpful ways of seeing, if we aren’t careful they can make us dumb. The conclusion draws a map. It shows how we can pull ourselves away from unhelpful default thinking. It shows the ways of seeing that can help us move our projects in small, definite steps, in the right direction – towards success and delivering value for users and owners. What You Will LearnWhy commitment and consistency can be harmful in project managementHow to move in a conscious, principled, way, away from unhelpful perspectives How to avoid common mistakes that can either harm a project, or kill it entirelyWho This Book is ForProject managers who need to deliver software development initiatives. And their bosses – people who fund projects, people who have the ideas, and people whose businesses need new software to succeed, thrive and survive.