On Aug 25, 4:01 pm, John Passaniti <john.passan...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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.
But then it becomes a game of "How bad is this code exactly?" and "How much technical debt have we accrued?". At least in my company's culture, it is quite hard. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
