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by Laurent Bossavit.
Original Post: Five dead in... schedule pressure ?
Feed Title: Incipient(thoughts)
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Feed Description: You're in a maze of twisty little decisions, all alike. You're in a maze of twisty little decisions, all different.
Occasionally I still find myself having the odd conversation with someone, usually but not always in a management position, who avers that in some cases there's just no two ways about it - to ship your project on time you grit your teeth, square your shoulders, and go through a few weeks or months of overtime.
"That's what happens when you get behind on a government contract" was the latest I heard in defense of the sanctity of The Deadline. "Oh, okay then", was my reply, "I hope these guys were at least paid overtime rate then." This was yesterday. Reading the news today made me wish I could go back and give myself a swift kick in the ass as I was writing that.
Earlier today the roof of the newest terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport collapsed, killing five and injuring three. That's a stone's throw from where I live, for you readers in other countries.
Terminal 2E opened last year, a week late, with some equipments and services not fully operational. The official reason cited for the delay was that the region's commission on security had been unable to collect all the required certification documents by opening day. Actually, what happened was that a light detached from the roof and fell almost at the feet of the officials, architects and engineers from the commission who had been touring the building a few days before the scheduled date.
With a total cost of 750M euros, it was crucial that the new terminal, scheduled to process 10 million passengers per year, started paying for itself as soon as possible. At the time, several unions had been protesting work conditions on the site of construction, noting in particular that contractors were under significant pressure to complete the work on schedule. "Forced march" was the phrase used back then.
A phrase are more familiar with in the software industry is "death march" - meaning prolonged overtime resulting from intense schedule pressure on a project. The phrase takes on a slightly different meaning in the wake of the tragedy at Terminal 2E, just as it does on every occasion of a highly visible reminder of the results of schedule pressure. The latest was a bit over a year ago - the space shuttle Columbia.
In the intervening year, the news here has been particularly rife with the good results of the government's latest safe driving campaign. Massive installation of photo radars to get drivers to ease up on the gas pedal was the latest maneuver in this campaign. The message, a simple one, seems to finally be getting across: speed kills.
What is it going to take before our own industry finally fucking gets it ?
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