Re: Quality systems (Was: Using Ada for device drivers? (Was: the Ada mandate, and why it collapsed and died))

[softeng3456@netscape.net (soft-eng)]

"Anders Wirzenius" <anders.wirzenius@pp.qnet.fi> wrote in message news:<ej%wa.58$f4.31@read3.inet.fi>...
> "soft-eng" <softeng3456@netscape.net> wrote in message news:9fa75d42.0305150600.72feef7f@posting.google.com...
> > "Anders Wirzenius" <anders.wirzenius@pp.qnet.fi> wrote in message news:<5mmwa.65$dp4.60@read3.inet.fi>...
> >
> > > He had a lucky time since the programers were loyal to him. I wonder how Mr Spolsky had reacted if the programmers had ignored
>  his
> > > pages and programmed the macro handling based on their own knowledge of macro language strategy? Had he intervened in their work
>  or
> > > just trusted them and let them do their job?
> >
> > Well, that's where the trust comes from.
> >
> > The basic idea is that you assume your
> > programmers are smart, conscientious workers.
> >
> > If you go with that idea, then the only reason programmers
> > would ignore his pages is if he was a very dumb person, hired
> > accidentally, and had no clue what he was designing.
> >
> > In which case, perhaps ignoring his pages would have
> > been the right thing to do.
> >
> > "Consensus building" does require support from hierarchy.
> > But the primary motivation is "does this makes sense",
> > rather than "what is the opinion of the highest person
> > in the hierarchy who is involved".
> 
> It is easy to be a manager in any management culture when things are going nice and smoothly. The real quality of the management
> style is tested when problems arise (hired wrong person...different way of thinking...two persons just cannot sit in the same
> room...alcoholism...using working hours for private business ...).
> "Assume your subordinates are smart", "make sure", "trust", "hire right people" are all round words. The interesting thing is to
> analyse in detail the difference between the acting of MS managers and Juno managers when they encounter problems.
> 

There is indeed some of that in Joel's URLs.  He said Microsoft
managers tried to remove themselves out of the situations,
and let the involved people fight it out (on the grounds
that the manager has the least information on the details.)
Though once, when a bunch of Ph.D.s were trying to make things
happen contrary to the corporate culture by using hierarchical
leverage, the group was very quickly disbanded and placed in
separate positions (presumably so they could do less harm.)

As opposed to Juno management where the CEO was brought in
and weighed in with a strong opinion to resolve a very
minor dispute between Joel and his manager.