| I remember that scene from "War of the Roses" where the Danny DeVito character tells the horror story of the Roses to talk a new client out of engaging in an ugly and bitter courtroom battle. I think his line was (paraphrasing here) "when a man who could charge you $250 an hour wants to tell you something for free, you should listen." I often feel that way about software. Remember the stages of a software project? 1) wild enthusiasm
2) profound disillusionment
3) search for the guilty
4) punishment of the innocent
5) rewards and accolades for the non-participants Can't remember exactly where I read that, but software developers have experienced them all, over and over. I don't necessarily try to talk people out of a new development effort. After all, there are clearly times when we need to write software, and some projects are smashing successes. But I kind of feel like that breed of lawyer who tries to get clients to see litigation as a true last resort. I say - is there anything already out there that could solve your problems without a new development effort? How far would a much simpler approach go toward solving your problems - could you live with it? Basically, I want clients to understand just how risky a full blown development effort truly is. Of course, if you need business... well, nothing like an angry divorce to keep the billable hours up, and nothing like a flailing software project funded by deep pockets to keep the cash flow positive.... |