A Thought Experiment 

The Forces Affecting Successful Software Development

Most aspects of Technology solutions, using modern practices such as Object Oriented Programming, are based on the real world.

We have objects that are things designated as Nouns: a person, place or thing.

We have Verbs that denote action behavior: GetPerson().

As we look out our windows we can easily create real world events as Software Entities:

A Car is a State Data Transfer Object (DTO) with its attributes such as Color, Make, and Model etc.

A Car starting its engine is an Action Behavior Method: StartCar()

Waiting to cross the street subscribes to an Event: OnCarComing() and notifies us not to cross the street if there is an approaching Car

We have Conditionals: IsCarFueled which is a prerequisite for the StartCar() action

We also have Exceptions: CarCrashException which we need to handle with some behavioral recovery action

By extending the real world analogy to other entities such as Newton’s Three Laws of Motion creates an interesting “Thought Experiment” on the forces of Software Project Motion.

Can the Real World Laws of Motion

… Be Applied to the Forces

…… That Affect Software Project Success?

The Three Laws of Motion

Newton’s laws forever changed our understanding of the Universe with his Three Laws of Motion.

They describe the relationship between a body and the forces acting upon it, and its motion in response to said forces.

1. Newton’s First Law of Motion – Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

   This is also Galileo’s law of Inertia

2. Newton’s Second Law of Motion – The relationship between an object’s mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma.

   The acceleration of a body is directly proportional to, and in the same direction as, the net force acting on the body, and inversely proportional to its mass. Thus, F = ma, where F is the net force acting on the object, m is the mass of the object and a is the acceleration of the object.

3. Newton’s Third Law of Motion – For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

   When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to that of the first body

The Three Laws of Software Project Motion

Let’s first create our parallels to Newton’s Laws of Motion for Software Project development. We will then conduct our Thought Experiment to postulate results.

1. Software Project’s First Law of Motion – Every Software Project, in a state of uniform motion, tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.
   

2. Software Project’s Second Law of Motion – The relationship between a Software Projects mass m (It’s Defined Scoped Size and Resources), its acceleration a (Pace of Development Commitments), and the applied force F (Pressure for Delivery) is:  F = ma.

3. Software Project’s Second Third Law of Motion – For every Software Development action (Changes in the Scoped Requirements or Delivery Dates) there is an equal and opposite Software Development reaction (Changes to force: F as m and a will change)

Let’s now look at the effects presented to our hypothetical project in this experiment using our Laws of Software Development Motion.

A project starts development with a clear understanding of the definition of success, based on the currently available information, and creates a “Road Map to a Success Milestone“.

The Project is Now in Motion:

1. The Project has Acceleration: a – It will stay in motion until an external acts on its forward motion such as scope changes, new deadlines or development resource changes.

   The Acceleration has been defined by development delivery date requirements

2. The Project has Mass: m – It contains some defined requirements that the development resources has currently put in motion as Acceleration: a
   

3. The Project’s Force: F can now be calculated – The defined Mass is the expected deliverables and dates that affect the Business Case and the number of affected Project resources create the overall Mass of the Project.

   This defines the effect that any changes to the scope and dates will have on the “State of Uniform Motion” of the momentum of the project’s travels to the defined Success Milestone

The Effects on the Project’s Motion
Due to the Software Project External Forces

Let’s define the forces that can change the forward acceleration of the Project to its defined milestone.

1. Scope Creep – Subtle changes that by themselves seem small but when aggregated become problematic for meeting deadlines

2. Delivery Dates – Sudden new priorities for delivery sooner that previously planned

3. Development Resources– Loss of critical skill sets assigned to meet the delivery expectations

4. Infrastructure Resources– Assigned Technology devices that are no longer performing at a level that supports the defined development dead lines

5. Misunderstanding of Initial Deliverables – As the project acceleration progresses a greater understanding of the defined requirements is attained. This creates a force for change that affects the ability to maintain the current momentum

6. Business Case Changes– The Business world is fluid, constantly in motion. This force will cause previous understandings to require modification that will adversely affect the acceleration towards the defined milestone

Each of these forces act on the momentum of the Project as an external force in our First Law of Motion.

Let’s now take each of the forces defined above and map them to the Software Laws of Motion as a conclusion to our Thought Experiment.

The conclusion drawn from this “Thought Experiment” is that there is a direct relationship to the Newton’s Laws of Motion in the real world and the Laws of Software Project Motion in the Development World.

This is logical as all software project entity components and their elements parallel the real world as well.

It is Nice to See Consistency in the Universe

Wisdom Pearl # 113: Understanding Success

Have a Crystal Clear Understanding of Your Destination

… Or You Might Drive Right By It