RE: "One person per product" Answer: "Are developers people?

http://www.developer.ibm.com/library/articles/nielsen4.html

Neilsen has a few interesting thoughts; I'm sure he's the type that makes
IBM suits wince.

Perhaps it does take a researcher to explain why we don't want
interruptions.  It's easy to complain but hard to explain.

Fans humming = white noise.  Machine room = limited access (and the thrill
of sneaking in a soda).  Works for me, except usually my hands get cold.  Of
course, in BVS's part of the world, you go into the machine room to warm up.

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-admin@midrange.com [mailto:midrange-l-admin@midrange.com]On
Behalf Of Brad Stone
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 9:35 AM
To: midrange-l@midrange.com
Subject: Re: "One person per product"

Just a few comments...

> I found an interesting article by an IBM researcher on
> programmer
> productivity; his message is that a two-minute telephone
> call really takes
> 17 minutes: two minutes for the call and 15 minutes to
> get all the mental
> plates spinning again.

Let me ask you this.  Have any of your programmers every
told you this?  Phone calls, interuptions of any kind?  I
can't believe you haven't heard this or said it yourself
sometime in your career.

"I need to be left alone for 3 days... every time you come
in and ask me 'Is the project done yet?' it throws me back
20 minutes or more... and unplug my phone too, please!  I
will let YOU know when it's done."

It seems it takes someone from IBM, or some other
"reasearcher" to tell us things our programming staff has
been telling us for eons!

> This makes you wonder about the
> efficacy of
> programmers in cubicles and the concept of the open
> office; I guess the
> solution is to provide a couple of private phone-less
> mini-offices with
> doors and PC's with development tools only, a coder would
> take residence to
> get privacy and productivity.

That would be cool.  I'd do that.  I still miss the hum of
the computer room.  Cubicles just didn't do it for me that
much.  The cold air of a good computer room, and the
constant hum of fans downing out any outside noise....

> Our AS/400 side is
> all written
> by one person (the best in town, at least), who is happy
> to tell
> me 'no you can't do it THAT way.'
>
> God bless him.

My goodness!  You should go touring the country telling IT
teams and management then when you have one of these gifted
team members, than when he says that you should listen, and
not get all defensive.

People are just too thinned skinned these days I guess.  I'm
happy to see you don't take "you can't do it THAT way" as
him trying to hurt yours or someone else's feelings, or call
them "dumb", etc...

Brad
www.bvstools.com
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