I'm working on a very, very large software engineering project right now. I'm in a lead role here, so I get access to inside information that the rank and file does not see. I've also got 8 years of industry experience, so I have developed a very healthy bullshit detector and very good instincts about what really goes on in the management planning meetings. Lately, one of my "rules of thumb" about management has been proved yet again.
To provide proper context, our project has been going on for 14 months. It is absolutely huge with about 85 people involved. Our 1.0 release is coming up in the next few weeks. A LOT of people had serious doubts we would make it this far in such a short period of time.
Well, this week we had 2 days of all team meetings which bascially boiled down to "OMG you all are so Awesome! Kudos all around! We're so happy!". They also bought us beer and appetizers. This was very nice, but I smelled a rat.
My instincts were correct. Last night, I had dinner with the secret cabal of high-level movers and shakers in this project (of which I am a member). The message I got in private was very different than the public message. We did OK (well, better than OK) for this version, but we're royally screwed for the next release. Classic story of trying to fit 10 lbs of crap in a 5 lb bag, or 10,000 hours of development in a 7,000 hour window.
My rule of thumb: "The louder the praise from management, the harder the smackdown that is coming."
Now, you may think that is horribly cynical. It really isn't. It does not apply to all scenarios. Little "attaboy" awards, free lunchs, et cetera are usually sincere expressions of gratitude. However, when they are suspiciously ostentatious or overblown, that raises my suspicions.
-D
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