Lidor Wyssocky at The Mindset writes about “The Emperor’s New Clothes Syndrome.” This reminded me of a talk Tim Lister gave earlier this year at the Boston SPIN. “The problem is that although we know exactly what doesn’t work right and how it should be fixed, most of us will never say anything,” Lidor writes.
He’s right. We should say something. The worst they can do is fire us. You don’t need to be offensive. It doesn’t need to be a big deal. They may not listen. But the worst they can do is fire us.
This reminds me of a talk Tim Lister gave in April at Boston SPIN (Software Process Improvement Network), a talk called “Dead Fish and Other Things Nobody Wants To Talk About.” “For starters,” Tim says, “We all need to declare the smell as soon as it is wafting in the project area. We need to all discuss the damage the Dead Fish does. Is it too much to ask that 50% of our projects
should be outright winners?” This is an excellent talk, and I highly recommend catching it if Tim gives it again.
-TimK