Waltzing With Bears

by Demarco, Tom; Lister, Timothy

• ISBN13: 9780932633606
• ISBN10: 0932633609
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Dorset House

Summary

Winner of the Software Development Jolt Product Excellence AwardGreater risk brings greater reward, especially in software development. A company that runs away from risk will soon find itself lagging behind its more adventurous competition. By ignoring the threat of negative outcomes-in the name of positive thinking or a can-do attitude-software managers drive their organizations into the ground.In Waltzing with Bears, Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister-the best-selling authors of Peopleware-show readers how to identify and embrace worthwhile risks. Developers are then set free to push the limits.The authors present the benefits of risk management, including that it makes aggressive risk-taking possible protects management from getting blindsided provides minimum-cost downside protection reveals invisible transfers of responsibility isolates the failure of a subproject.Readers are armed with strategies for confronting the most common risks that software projects face: schedule flaws requirements inflation turnover specification breakdown and under-performance.Waltzing with Bears will help you mitigate the risks-before they turn into project-killing problems. Risks are out there-and they should be there-but there is a way to manage them.Insights from the Book"Running away from risk is a no-win proposition. Sometimes you come across a project that looks positively risk-free. In the past, you may have looked at such an endeavor as a 'slam dunk'and thanked your lucky stars to be given an easy project for a change. We've had the same reaction. What dummies we were. Those projects weren't worth doing at all." - from Chapter 1

Author Biography

Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister are long-time colleagues as principals of the Atlantic Systems Guild

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Ethics of Belief	3	(4)
PART I: WHY	7	(28)
1. Running Toward Risk	9	(6)
2. Risk Management Is Project Management for Adults	15	(7)
3. Denver International Airport Reconsidered	22	(7)
4. The Case for Risk Management	29	(6)
PART II: WHY NOT	35	(16)
5. The Case Against Risk Management	37	(5)
6. The Onus of Uncertainty	42	(4)
7. Luck	46	(5)
PART III: HOW	51	(92)
8. Quantifying Uncertainty	53	(7)
9. Mechanics of Risk Management	60	(13)
10. Risk Management Prescription	73	(7)
11. Back to Basics	80	(11)
12. Tools and Procedures	91	(10)
13. Core Risks of Software Projects	101	(12)
14. A Defined Process for Risk Discovery	113	(8)
15. Risk Management Dynamics	121	(7)
16. Incrementalism for Risk Mitigation	128	(10)
17. The Ultimate Risk Mitigation Strategy	138	(5)
PART IV: HOW MUCH	143	(26)
18. Value Quantification	147	(4)
19. Value Is Uncertain, Too	151	(5)
20. Sensitivity Analysis	156	(4)
21. Value Offsets Risk	160	(4)
22. Refining the Risk Management Prescription	164	(5)
PART V: WHETHER OR NOT	169	(6)
23. Test for Risk Management	171	(4)
Appendix A: The Ethics of Belief, Part 1	175	(6)
Appendix B: Risk Template	181	(2)
References	183	(8)
Index	191