Notes:
It's easy to digest simple rules. It's all too easy to hide behind
complex rules. If the rules are simple enough and they work,
most people will see success. If the rules are complex, it's too easy
to say you didn't follow them correctly and that's why you aren't
seeing success.
[ten commandments] The ten commandments are a simple set of rules. They
have been passed down through millenia and are buy and large followed.
We get pretty good results by following them, so people continue to
use them.
Leadership gurus sell simple rules. The
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People distills the salient points you need to be successful.
Perhaps Covey misses a few, but you can internalize seven new
habits. If you do, you'll be doing very well.
The software crisis hasn't diminished. We are producing lots of
software, but the rate of creation hasn't sped up over the years.
My conjecture is that the complexity of most software processes
masks fundamental problems, like the team doesn't really get along
or we really don't know what the problem is. As programmers, it's
too easy to make lots of rules which prevent us from seeing the
core issues.
[couches] The new law in Boulder which prohibits couches (uphostered
furniture?) on porches, side yards, gardens, etc. in the University
Hill area is a good example of a complex rule.
The law was introduced, because there were 80 couch burnings by CU
students. The best way to eliminate couch burnings is, well, to
eliminate couches. Not.
XP is a distillation of some useful and effective software engineering
practices. There are probably others. You may not like all of them.
The key is that the set is simple and comprehensible. Either it works
for you or it doesn't. You don't need years of process audits and
reviews to know if it is working or not.