On Aug 25, 5:01 pm, Joshua Maurice <joshuamaur...@gmail.com> wrote: > I agree. Sadly, with managers, especially non-technical > managers, it's hard to make this case when the weasel > guy says "See! It's working.".
Actually, it's not that hard. The key to communicating the true cost of software development to non-technical managers (and even some technical ones!) is to express the cost in terms of a metaphor they can understand. Non-technical managers may not understand the technology or details of software development, but they can probably understand money. So finding a metaphor along those lines can help them to understand. http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WardExplainsDebtMetaphor I've found that explaining the need to improve design and code quality in terms of a debt metaphor usually helps non-technical managers have a very real, very concrete understanding of the problem. For example, telling a non-technical manager that a piece of code is poorly written and needs to be refactored may not resonate with them. To them, the code "works" and isn't that the only thing that matters? But put in terms of a debt metaphor, it becomes easier for them to see the problem. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list