Will reorganizing every two weeks lead to stable software processes? What conditions would enable this to happen? When should we schedule the next change?

Several years ago I found out that I was not really in charge of everything, or in control of very much. This lead me to

Don’s Dismal Dilemma: How will I achieve my goals, when I’m not in charge or control?

“Change quotients” prompted one particular thought – since I’m usually the person recommending a change, I tend to be more sensitive to lower quotients than mine. Yet, I do recall one organization which had an intrinsic change quotient which apparently exceeded mine – they reorganized every two weeks, more or less.

Some wag said, “The only person who likes change is a wet baby.” Another favorite is “Everyone likes change, when someone else is doing it.”

If change is so inevitable, why do people, teams and organizations experience so much difficulty changing? We should be good at it!

“Don, the software’s locked up again! Can you come up here tomorrow and fix it?” George was on the other end of the conversation. George and I had started working together when his employer moved a production line from Florida to Virginia.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt trapped. The more trapped he felt, the more he wanted out. The more he wanted out, the more he felt trapped. And around, and around his feelings traveled in a vicious circle of trapped and wanting out. But there wasn’t anyway out.

I’m not surprised when the first words I hear are “Something’s wrong, can you come and take a look?” What did surprise me was Saturday and at home.

Three of my favorite quotes about change and translations:
“The only person who likes change is a wet baby.” This change corrects a problem so I’m OK with it.
“Everyone likes change, when someone else is doing it.” I’m OK with the status quo. You do the changing.
“The only universal constant is change.” Get used to changing. The universe constantly changes so you need to change too.

Sharkey, the sales VP of UberDenke Software Products, firmly believes he needs to have the next release of the UDCRM product in three months. Engelbert, the software engineering VP, estimates a minimum of twice that long – six months – to implement all the new features. During the discussion, Sharkey drops some thinly veiled threats:

I’ll never forget that morning even though it happened a quarter of a century ago. I was a programmer helping start up a new factory, and things had been going OK. Not great, but OK. I decided that morning on the way to the factory I was going to stay calm and not let anyone “get to me”. Right.