Peopleware

Biggest effort in making project happen is figuring out social problems: managing people, managing expectations, figuring out issues and disagreements. Most common cause of project failure is making mistakes in one of those areas, and not areas directly related with technology.

Large portion of this book I already consumed by reading Joel Spolsky’s blog and books, and it’s not surprising, since he wrong a cover comment about the Peopleware.

Big impact on the project success or failure lies in workers conditions: quiet office space, comfortable furniture, lighting, environment and everything else relating with “relaxed” attitude towards bringing intellectual contributions.

This is the most overlooked area, and lots of people assume workers will deliver the same stuff in whichever conditions.

Reading this book and Joel’s blog made me happy, since I realized it’s not only me, the defective one, who doesn’t deliver as much in the typical cubical (cubodoidal) office space as in his favorite space. I’m pretty sure I could have delivered more good stuff in my empty room in my grandmother’s apartment, where the desk is facing window, door is always closed behind me, nobody is asking me any questions about anything and where I have lots of useful books available at a reach of hand.

Denmark has a law stating each worker must have a window assess, and studies had shown construction of the buildings is possible to meet this expectation without increasing the cost of the building.

This kind of matches my general expectation with Scandinavian countries, since while in Finland even as an intern I had my own office, with window facing nice company’s park. Office with a door. And free access to excellent coffee machine, where getting latte/mocha was possible through a button press.