by Johanna Rothman. Originally published in Cutter’s Business-IT Alignment E-Mail Advisor, April 26, 2000. In response to Jim Highsmith’s Business-IT Strategies E-Mail Advisor of 1 March, “Change Is Changing,” I’d like to ask: Is the Internet really changing everything? I’m not so sure. In the 14 February issue of Business Week, there was a fascinating […]
© 2000 Johanna Rothman. This article was originally published in Software Testing and Quality Engineering, March/April 2000. Many of us have worked in test groups in which we felt as if we didn’t have enough time, hardware, or staff to do the work. In those situations it’s hard to escape the feeling that while somebody might be in
©2000 Johanna Rothman “I can’t make a decision today to save my life.” Susan, VP Engineering “Everything I touch today turns into garbage.” Joe, VP Engineering “I just want to hurt everyone when I can’t get anything done. Why should they have a good day, when I’m having a lousy day?” Cyril, CEO
© (2000) Johanna Rothman and IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from Johanna
© 2000 Johanna Rothman. Abstract Many of us would like a precise answer to the question: “What’s the correct staffing ratio for developers to testers in my product development organization?” Usually though, the only answer is “It depends”. Your answer depends on your situation: the kind of project you’re working on, your schedule constraints, the
by Johanna Rothman. Originally published in Cutter’s Business-IT Alignment E-Mail Advisor, October 6, 1999. I visit many different organizations over the course of the year. As I begin working with a client, inevitably someone whispers to me, “Can you help kill my project?” I don’t normally kill projects, but some folks are so desperate to
by Johanna Rothman. Originally published in Cutter’s Business-IT Alignment E-Mail Advisor, July 7, 1999. “There is nothing permanent except change.” — Heracleitus As our industry has changed from mainframes to client-server to distributed systems and the Web, the tools we use to develop and test our software have changed. How do we keep our staff
©1999 Johanna Rothman Effectively using your influence is an art, the art of getting other people to do the things you want them to — and willingly. Many of us have opportunities to practice using our influence when we have responsibility for results, but not specific managerial authority. To be effective in these collaborative/consensus situations,
by Johanna Rothman. © 1999 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the
©1999 Johanna Rothman “The Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42” –. Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Some people think there’s a specific answer to questions such as: “What’s the correct staffing ratio for developers to testers in a software development organization?” “What’s the best project management