Weinberg's Testament
on Managing Change Addresses the Most Troublesome Issues of Management
About the Book
The highly acclaimed four-volume Quality Software
Management series concludes with this stand-alone volume: Anticipating
Change. In it, Gerald M. Weinberg illustrates how to create a supportive environment
for software engineering —an environment in which your organization
can realize long-lasting gains in quality and productivity by learning how to
manage change.
As the author argues, the history of software engineering
is riddled with failed attempts to improve quality and productivity without first
creating a supportive environment. Many managers spend their money on tools, methodologies,
outsourcing, training, and application packages, but they rarely spend anything
to improve or to remove the management that created those situations in the first
place.
From systems thinking to project management to technology transfer
to the interaction of culture and process, Anticipating Change analyzes
transformation from a broad range of perspectives, providing a breadth of awareness
essential for successful management of high-quality software development.
Topics
include:
modeling how change really happens
change artistry
planning for the future organization
moving off a dead stop
tactical change planning
selecting and testing a goal
why
software projects fail
and much more.
Reviews
"This fourth volume presents a recipe for a quality
software engineering organization. . . . [Weinberg] recognizes the importance
of tools for the delivery of high-quality software and software services, but
he correctly suggests a much larger set of technologies, which includes formal
and informal organizational relationships; technical reviews and planning approaches;
standards; measurements; and technical infrastructure, such as networks, hardware,
and software tools. . . . This book should be read after the author's other three
volumes. Reading all four might be a time-consuming undertaking, but the many
practical hints make it worthwhile. Practitioners will find it very useful."
—H.
Remus Computing Reviews
"Gerald Weinberg, one of
the truly original thinkers who write about organizational factors influencing
software development, often provides me with the opportunity to say 'aha.' . .
. Anticipating Change addresses how to create an environment conducive
to implementing the software engineering culture he describes in the first three
books of the series. What is fascinating about Weinberg's approach to software
development management is how his perspective encompasses such diverse sources
as family therapy theories, personality type studies, and experiences drawn from
years of consulting for software development organizations."
—Warren
Keuffel Software Development
"If you're grappling
with how to improve software development and especially how to improve managing
software development, then this might be the right book for you."
—Mike
Barker IEEE Software
"This book is for
those who want to think deeply on how to be a positive change agent for the people
around them. I use this material when speaking at conferences and users groups
and the response is always incredibly positive. Listeners always want to know
more. Software professionals suffer from a complete lack of exposure to excellent
writings on non-technical topics. This book does a great job helping fill that
gap (as do many of Jerry Weinberg's books)."
"The first half of this book
is useful for anyone contemplating changing an organization. The second half is
directed specifically at project managers. . . . a lot of good concepts and models.
Very thought-provoking. If you wonder why you haven't been able to change your
organization, this is well worth reading."
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