. .???).
??“ Ensuring that all your reports have at least one encouraging message. ???We??™re finding the bugs
faster than we expected,??? ???the critical units are mostly freer of bugs than we expected??? (well some
of them).
??? Playing games: some project managers:
??“ Promise: things will get better (???we??™ll do it properly, next time???).
??“ Pseudochange: there is an apparent commitment to change, possibly related to some external
reference but not to subsequent events. (The board has adopted a new management strategy..,
. . . the organization will be certified to ISO 9000??¦) This leads to what [Argyris] refers to as
skilled incompetence whereby much effort is devoted by dominant incompetent groups to
appearance management.
??“ Invalidation (Aka Not Invented Here): some useful alternative or viewpoint is acknowledged as
existing but denied validity (???. . . an object-oriented approach wouldn??™t work in our organization . . .???).
??“ Messenger-shooting: the bearer of ill-tidings is labeled as having a personality problem and
disposed of ?????¦we always had problems with that person.??? This is why experienced staff become
experts at avoiding confrontation with members of dominant and incompetent groups. Having
a weak ego helps.
??“ Dualism: the available choices are limited to two, irrespective of the potential for finding
others. Unsurprisingly one is quite unacceptable. Such an approach is invaluable when scapegoats
are needed.
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