The Project Dilemma Triangle

It is as constant as life itself

I have written about this many times before, my battles with Project Managers who do anything but manage the project.

During my postgraduate course, I took the Project Management module and we were tested not by the methodology, but by the problems with personnel in the sub-group that we were in.

Each person had a deliverable within the project assignment and some received wisdom suggested that we put a time frame on when that task had to be completed after which the task was taken away from the allottee if not completed and given to someone else to complete.

A reality project course

In our team of five, one just did not pull his weight and when we took over his task and completed it, he threatened to report us for ostracism and discrimination. I withstood him at all points of this attempt to blackmail us pointing out his responsibility and apparent lack of consideration for others even if he just wanted to get by rather than excel as the rest of us did.

Meanwhile, our lecturer was watching our exchanges and in the end commended me for handling such a difficult situation calmly, respectfully and decisively. We did not make a distinction for that module, but the biggest lesson I took away from that experience was that I did not want to be a project manager.

A common-sense experience

27 years in the Information Technology profession has taught me a few home truths and it is best illustrated in what I now call The Project Dilemma Triangle.

The angles of the triangle labelled are labelled Good, Fast and Cheap, and from that I have developed a number of truisms. A very commonsensical view of projects without the attendant jargon or obfuscation with meaningless terminology.

Much as I strive to do the very best job I can, I am constrained by time, by cost, sometimes by knowledge I still have acquire and mostly by project managers with unrealistic expectations. The project managers I have worked best with are those who have taken the time to come to understand what I am doing, what I am thinking and what it takes to create a deliverable that works at implementation the very first time.

I battle daily

However, because the time and the cost is usually determined long before understanding what the work entails, the technical resource is in a bind. We are compelled to work within the constraints of the Fast and Cheap to achieve the Project Manager’s goal of the Fast and Good with everyone pretending that the Fast and Cheap will be Good and Fast. It is never the case.

Where Fast is delivering on time and Cheap is doing it on a shoestring with Good being the minimum we can get away with that appears to work, we find that we do never really get it right the first time even if the Project Manager ticks it off as delivered and the technical resource is still left with that ‘delivered’ project, firefighting issues and problems that should never have been there is the time and scope was there to get it right from the get-go.

That sums up my daily work life and the battles I am constantly fighting with Project Managers in The Project Dilemma Triangle.

Thought Picnic: Finding a way with words

A way with words

You have a way with words, my boss wrote in response to an email I sent out to a wider circulation list to counter a political storm.

Communication and succinct communication is something I have found very useful in the workplace. In many ways, between those of us doing the work and the many others whose high-visibility and lots of jargon spiel allows them to steal the glory of others, many things call for diplomacy and tact.

Ways to use suggestion to persuade people of your views, others needed to tell people off quite sternly without appearing to do so.

Purposeful communication

This for me is the versatility of the English language, moving on from the perfunctory to a deeper and meaningful use of expression that you cannot be misunderstood, even if you are misread at the first reading.

I do not write emails to have them ignored, I set up the circumstance in which all courtesies apply that there will be much to be said for your decorum, attitude and politeness, if you do not engage.

Generally, as much as my phraseology can read as flowery and verbose, the purpose in the end is to cut to the chase, dispense with jargon and let very basic common-sense apply.

Working on it

It is so easy to run away with fads and trends to appear as if you can fly with the eagles when you are, in fact, roaming with chickens. I can see through many like that in no time and I so easier run out of patience when I am invited to talk shops that do nothing to help in solving problems.

When I talk, I think I am good, when I write, I guess I am a lot better. I have kept my job, changed systems, impressed greatly, annoyed seriously and gotten raises, just because somewhere in my abilities, I can find the right context, tone and intent in my communication to coax and to persuade.

I have learnt to keep doing what I know best to do, the rest will take care of itself.

Thought Picnic: Good Religious Observance is Always Accompanied by Common-Sense

Sights of London

This afternoon as I sat observing Londoners I saw something worth commenting about and if I expected the tweet to go unnoticed, I failed in that mission.

I robustly engaged all commentary and I have decided it is an issue that should be blogged.

With a number of #SightsOfLondon hash tags I tweeted:

#SightsOfLondon It's 26 degrees and you are in a black hijab. Diagnosis: Heatstroke brought on by religious stupidity.

Immediately after I posted this I was told my comments were inappropriate and that I was ignorant of the subject.

This was one area where I was not ready to back down to insouciance because of the many things that were clearly in that tweet that the reactions missed out of a lack of comprehension first, an inability to contextualise commentary and thin-skinned feeble-mindedness.

The context

The setting is this – the weather, it was hot and humid, without a wind, literally every was dressed lightly, I did not see any extremes of undress of exposure, but people were dressed to ensure they did not overheat, probably dehydrate and possibly suffer heatstroke.

The verdict in terms of diagnosis what I anticipated the possibility that if she was dressed and completely covered in black, the body will not be allowed the opportunity to dissipate heat and hence cool down bringing on heatstroke – if she did suffer heatstroke, one would expect that emergency services and doctors will come to an easy conclusion, but that was from my tweet a future possibility much as she might well never suffer heatstroke for all sorts of extenuating circumstances.

What my tweet did not say was that hijabs were bad and the completeness of my tweet made a clear reference to colour.

Common-sense: The missing piece

Then to address the other surrounding issues in terms of the reactions, I have no problems with people following some religious creed or diktat, it is a matter of conscience but even religious matters require the use of common-sense, that is what we have our intellect for, to be able to reason and make smart decisions in relation to our faiths.

The hijab allows for wearers to express outward modesty and chastity but it should not be at the expense of their well-being and comfort because that will be foolish – I can see no reason why that should excite argument apart from fundamentalist fanaticism that sacrifices every God-given ability to reason for a blind adherence to letter that has not spirit of recognising basic human circumstances, needs and situations – reason allows us to adapt – in very hot and humid weather, sure reasoning would have been expressed in wearing a hijab of light clothing and light colours.

The disabling power of ignorance

It is the same lack of reasoning in the application of religious views that had the Catholic Church in Brazil opposing the abortion of the pregnancy of a nine-year old girl where doctors had clear said she could not bring the pregnancy to term and the risk of loss of life to the girl and the foetus was very likely.

The parents were pragmatic and sensible enough to allow for the pregnancy to be terminated to save their nine-year old daughter than to risk the loss of their known daughter and completely unknown prospective grandchild. Sadly, they were ex-communicated.

The same can be said of the Mohammedan cartoon controversy where people were killing themselves in faraway lands for depictions that could never be true and they should have better not to accept considering the artists were not even adherents of the faith.

Feeble sensibilities

I am saddened that feeble sensibilities, ignorance and the wiliness to be easily offended to the extent of causing oneself undue and unnecessary stress over matters that are particular and easily irrelevant is stifling good discussion but if we allow a latitude of tolerance in our outlooks we gain the opportunity to show that our religion is not driven by fanatical observance to the exclusion of our faculties one will usually expect this of the supposedly better informed.

From time immemorial, religious practices of all faiths have been praised, debated, questioned, condemned, excoriated, blamed or ridiculed – it will not stop today and if the affected are not ready to cast off subjective assessments of the issues and they succumb to the disabling influence of sentiment that negates the use of their intellect and common-sense, they will invariably be hurt and the higher moral ground with be yielded to those who challenge the practices.

Worse still, their reactions might well take what has been questioned into the realm of the bizarre, the outlandish and outrageous bringing even more opprobrium on the matter.

In closing my argument, the tweet was written to a very particular situation and observation but it got blown up into a generalisation by the reactions that it would have been within my rights to take serious offence for the fact that the readers lacked understanding of my tweet and their comprehension of the whole context was wanting – on the other issues of fundamentalism, fanaticism and the use of intellect – the blog speaks for itself.

Slips, slippers and saunas

The heat treatment

I find that I get too topical with my blogs and rarely share a basic thought that I have not been able to develop into a full blog.

However, if I do have a number of basic thoughts, I could put them together in a blog and hope that the information flows with some entertainment value.

It was a day in early 1995, I got to work and my boss thought I looked tired if not stressed, he immediately suggested I find a sauna and sweat it all out. That was quite a new concept to me that I first called the sauna and even asked if they welcomed non-Caucasians.

Strange question, you might say, but there have been times when I have walked into places quite boldly and the place falls silent as I try to pick off eye balls all over me.

Under little cover

In a sauna, you are might have a towel as covering, in Budapest, you get the equivalent of a fig-leaf, some luxury outfits might offer robes but if you are more comfortable in other kinds of apparel, you can imagine the self-conscious state of mind you will have – it is not easy for a seemingly assertive person to be somewhere unfamiliar and strange.

It was a wonderful experience, exhilarating too. Many patrons go bare-foot around the sauna, but I learnt years ago to wear slippers after I suffered from warts that took ages to disappear.

I was amused when I saw the same kind of slippers I bought for 12 Euros on the shelf for almost 60 Euros and all because someone had branded the slippers with the DG chain-link of Dolce and Gabbana.

Money and sense

Even where I have had more money than sense, I have tried to call on the sense as much as possible when spending money and my slippers are very good, thank you very, very much – Dolce and Gabbana; my foot and hurting pocket – but you can imagine the accursed victims who would make a beeline for the label even if the product offers no additional function or quality.

Slippers, they are, not like they are made of some luxury chemical in sweat shops where the workers sweat the sweetness of honey, but you have to celebrate the brand and they must be thankful that there are fewer of me than customers who would shell out a fortune and more for tat dressed as superior and classy.

I am not wearing the Emperor’s new clothes, hope you aren’t too. Well, the blog ended up being long anyhow – the words are inspired at the time of writing most of the time.