# Thoughts on PeopleWare

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Has anyone else read this? It's recommended by Joel Spolsky as a (perhaps long lost?) Microsoft employee must-read. I'm only 30 pages in and the claims made are already incredulous.
Effort Estimate         Average         Number of
Prepare by              Productivity    Projects
Programmer              8.0             19
Supervisor	        6.6             23
Programmer & supervisor	7.8             16
Systems Analyst         9.5             21
(No estimate)           12.0            24


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I've read it. I'm actually not too surprised about those numbers, by the way, except with the possibility of the last one (productivity for no estimate). The remaining productivity numbers are pretty much bang-on.

The reason I disagree with the productivity for no estimate is because the only evidence close to empirical that I've ever been able to observe is myself. And I tell you, without using an estimate to try and figure out when I'd be done, I don't do much at all. Of course, that's just my own (perverse) personal experience, and we all know that every statistic has its (lol, standard) deviants.

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May I suggest here that although no estimate is there for a team, the team still feels the necessity to move forward, to accomplish the goal, to deliver a product. Individuals will look at each other, and on a successful team there will always be an achiever or two who propel things.

One-man-army development, on the other hand, may suffer when no estimates are made, unless we're speaking of a highly organized person. However, rigid estimates for such case are *not* welcome. If you miss a deadline, you won't be feeling good. Which is bad.

Peopleware puts deadline management where it belongs, in the trash bin.

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