If they only knew.
For a long while people have joked that “managing a software project is like herding cats.” I’m not a big fan of this saying for a couple of reasons. First off, I don’t really like cats all that much, which I know is heresy to the 4.2 million readers of Cat Fancy and all those people who think it’s somehow a good idea to train an animal to go to the bathroom inside your house. But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I’ve always thought that the statement suggested that nobody on the team actually wanted to work together and get something done, which is definitely how cats tend to think but not really how most good software developers I know do.
Which led me to think of another phrase that I think is more accurate: “managing a software project is like leading an army of poets.” This works for me much better because, for one, I like poets, and two, I think an army of them would actually want to work together to, say, invade Malta, but they just wouldn’t necessarily be very interested in all the marching around and doing drills and whatnot. And this visual somehow does jive with my view of real software developers, most of whom are willing to work together so long as there isn’t a lot of nonsense involved.
So, if you are managing an army of poets, what would you do? For one, cut the junk: neither poets nor software developers are going to love a lot of meetings where not much gets done. Secondly, remember that most good developers have a lot to offer in the way of creativity and insight — and you want to create a culture which recognizes that core fact. (In my experience, a very large number of the best ideas we’ve had “bubble up” from one of our developers saying “hey, I thought of a better way.”)
But, finally — and this is an important note — I think it is key to remember that this isn’t an academic department of poets, or a book club of poets — it’s an army. That is, if you work in a business setting of some sort, it’s probably important that something gets done. And there are going to be a few times in which you will need to remember that it’s important to keep on the move, and that yes, poets or no, people will need to work together.
