Bulldozer00's Blog

When the definition of “done” for a software development project is solely based on allocated time and budget, it’s relatively easy to be perceived as successful. When the schedule and budget are exhausted: the work stops, the software is delivered/released/deployed, and victory is unequivocally declared. Whoo Hoo! As long as the software runs, regardless of its quality and usefulness, all is well – in the short run.

When the achievement of one or more difficult-to-measure, but meaningful, quality metrics is added as a third criterion to the easily measured time and budget metrics, the meaning of “done” becomes less vague and more realistic. That’s why it’s rarely done in practice.

Ya see, CLORGs and DYSCOs are full of themselves. By not measuring the things that matter for long term viability, they can stay infallibly full of themselves till the fit hits the shan.