RE: getting info

[kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com]

I've definitely had trouble getting information. But I've always gotten
it. I view the difficulty that is sometimes inherent in getting it to be
one of the reasons we get paid (usually) decent money.

But I can't deny that sometimes it's difficult. I've run into these
scenarios:

? No spec or any other written record of what's going on, so I have to get
brain dump(s) from SME(s). And because said SMEs are the only people with
the master plan for the project, they're way too busy working to stop and
tell you what they're working on.

? The "star" system. This is tied somewhat to the previous scenario. I've
more than once worked in situations where the company had a couple "star"
developers, whose ideas and skills were utterly key to the products the
company sold. Because their intellectual property comprised the company's
cash cow, they were pedestalized, and not to be bothered by people openly
thought of as lower on the food chain. Sometimes this was actually a
management edict - don't bother Mike, he's too busy making us money. But
sometimes it was the developer believing their own press, and feeling
their contribution to the company excused them from the laws of human
decency and manners. I've dealt with some truly arrogant developers.

? Here's the loop, and you're not in it. I've seen doc teams treated as
such afterthoughts that we've literally been asked to doc an application
that is shipping the next week, and it's the first we've even heard of its
existence.

Again, despite those roadblocks, I always got what I needed. In each case
I looked for a way around, and always found it - but different techniques
worked in different situations. Over the years I've learned to stress less
about this stuff, and just consider it an occupational hazard. Part of why
I don't do this stuff for free.



Keith Cronin

Sports. The opposite of reading.

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