Reddit reviews Death March (2nd Edition)
We found 9 Reddit comments about Death March (2nd Edition). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Reddit reviews Death March (2nd Edition)We found 9 Reddit comments about Death March (2nd Edition). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
If you want to understand PS2 development I suggest you read this
>Historically, all software projects have involved a certain degree of risk and pressure -- but many of the projects in today's chaotic business environment involve such intense pressure that they are referred to colloquially as "death-march" projects -- i.e., projects whose schedules are so compressed, and/or whose budgets, or resource (people) assignments are so constrained, that the only "obvious" way to succeed is for the entire team to work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no vacations until the project is finished. While the corporate goal of such projects is to overcome impossible odds and achieve miracles, the personal goal of the project manager and team members often shrinks down to mere survival: keeping one's job, maintaining some semblance of a relationship with one's spouse and children, and avoiding a heart attack or ulcer.
There's actually books about this: https://www.amazon.com/Death-March-2nd-Edward-Yourdon/dp/013143635X
There's a lot of things you can do to protect yourself, but as far as I can tell you've tried most of the things you could do to fix it.
> In the middle of this are the higher ups at SE who are trying to make too much work with too little time/money/people
Ever read the book Deathmarch?
It's about project management, and dealing with impossible projects. Your comment reminded me about it.
But yes, I totally agree that the higher ups at SE should be held accountable.
Look up Edward Yourdon's book Death March: The Complete Software Developer's Guide to Surviving 'Mission Impossible' (O'Reilly Online; Amazon ... heh... "You purchased this item on August 11, 2012." ... yes, yes I did.)
And while you're on the tail end of the project, it does have some advice for that portion too.
From the first chapter:
> If your company has told you—either explicitly, or by innuendo—that your job will disappear unless you sign up for a project with a ridiculous schedule, budget, and resource allocation, what should you do? Obviously, this depends on your assessment of your financial, physical, emotional, and psychological situation; you also need to accurately assess the situation within your company. In some cases, the real threat is that your promotion, bonus, or salary increase will be withheld if you don't participate; I'll cover this separately below. But even if the threat is termination of employment, big companies can't usually carry out their threat right away; you may have two or three months before your job disappears, and that may be enough time to find a job elsewhere.
> What if the threat is more immediate and blunt? “Sign up for this death march project right now, or pack up your things and get out!” says your boss. It's inconceivable to me that a rational person would choose to work in such an environment, but let's assume the environment had been reasonably friendly until the latest re-engineering craze turned your boss into a raving lunatic. So here you are: Sign, quit, or be fired. What can you do?
> If at all possible, my advice is: Quit now, because it's just going to get worse. You may have to live off your savings for a few months, and you may even have to take a pay cut while you gain experience in some newer technology; but chances are you'll be a happier person than if you knuckle under and continue on in a situation that has little or no upside potential. Sometimes you can accomplish this by volunteering for the death march project while simultaneously updating your resumé and starting the job search; however, this can create some ethical dilemmas if you feel that quitting in the middle of the death march project would leave your teammates stranded and helpless.
I'll point out that the last ethical dilemma - leaving your teammates stranded and helpless... that's a moot point for you.
Senior Level Software Engineer Reading List
Read This First
Fundamentals
Development Theory
Philosophy of Programming
Mentality
Software Engineering Skill Sets
Design
History
Specialist Skills
DevOps Reading List
Man corporate is crazy. Problem is they believe churning out crap is better than quality. Problem is consumers can differentiate what crap is when everyone is churning out crap. Check out Death March description when you get a chance. I bought a used copy for $6 cause it struck a cord.
Get "Death March" shipped to you overnight (have the company pay for it, 'natch).
http://www.amazon.com/Death-March-2nd-Yourdon-Press/dp/013143635X/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
Read it ostentatiously during your lunch.
And of course, take the advice therein.
Yourdon wrote a book about this called, appropriately enough ... Death March http://www.amazon.com/Death-March-Edition-Edward-Yourdon/dp/013143635X - it's a very good read for software devs.
You have several different problems that are all piling on top of each other:
For #1:
Start saving money. If you have the equivalent to 3-6 months' expenses, you will be free of a huge amount of stress. /r/personalfinance can help with reducing expenses and coming up with a practical and feasible budget.
For #2:
I would like to recommend some books. Brownfield Application Development in .NET. While this book is aimed at .NET, it applies to other platforms as well. This book describes how to add unit tests, organize and standardize the project so that you don't have the situation where only "Bob" can build the project (using continuous integration, you can be assured that the project can always be built and ready to go. Working Effectively with Legacy Code. This is the standard book for how to deal with legacy projects. Death March. [Death marches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_march_(project_management%29) are common in software development. Depression and stress is a very common reaction to demands for too many features in too little time.
For #3:
Depression is common at this time of year. Especially in the northern hemisphere due to shorter day lengths. I found that I get something called seasonal affective disorder. It was really bad when when I worked a job where I got to work before dawn and left after sundown. To mitigate things, I had to go outside and walk around in daylight for 2 15-20 minute periods. Even when it was below zero (the altitude was about 9500 feet or about 3000 meters). There are lights which can help replace some of the daylight that you aren't getting because it is winter time.
I find that exercise helps me with fighting off depression. Something as simple as a brisk walk every day can help. I found that the best thing for me was group exercise classes. Such as Zumba. It is simple, musical and no one will be critical of how good or bad you dance.
Another thing that can help is to have a sense of humor. The movie Office Space is one that almost everyone in IT should watch.
You might find more help over at /r/depression .