Bulldozer00's Blog

I like Alistair Cockburn‘s work, but I’m bummed. He, like fellow agilist Ken Schwaber, is on a certification kick. You know, like the phony belt colors in six sigma and the levels of “assessment” (<– psuedo-certification) in the CMMI and the “highly coveted” ISO-900X certification cartel.

InfoQ: Interview with Alistair Cockburn.

How well do you think certification/assessment systems have really worked to establish high quality products and services coming out of highly credentialed orgs and individuals? All it is to me is another way to extract snake oil money out of struggling orgs. You see, those few orgs that know how to develop high quality, value-added software products don’t need no stinkin’ certs. Those orgs that repeatedly screw up cuz of CCH mismanagement and misalignment need certs to give themselves a false sense of pride and to temporarily cloak their poor performance. However, when the money’s gone, the time’s gone, and the damn thang don’t work, the truth is revealed.