Waltzing with Bears Part I

Gems from Waltzing with Bears by Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister.


If a project has no risks, don't do it.

Risk management is project management for adults.

The word maturity has nothing to do with technical proficiency. It is, rather, a quality of grown-up-ness, ......

A risk is a problem that has yet to occur, and a problem is a risk that has already materialized.

Risk management is the process of thinking out corrective actions before a problem occurs, ...... The opposite of risk management is crisis management, ......

Risk Transition: the point at which the risk materialises.

Transition Indicator: the visible event at the time of risk transition.

Component activities for risk management

1. Risk Discovery: initial risk brainstorm & subsequent triage
2. Exposure Analysis: quantification of each risk (probability & impact)
3. Contingency Planning: what you do if it materialises
4. Mitigation: steps that must be taken before transition in order to keep your options open and to make correction possible afterward.
5. Ongoing Transition Monitoring: tracking of risks

The worst organisations penalise unappealing forecasts, but not unappealing results.

Without risk management, projects have no way to distinguish between stretch goals and reasonable expectations.

Before any risk management. Speak the words "failure", "rejection", and "cancellation". If the words do not come out easily, you have cultural problem!

When you choose to ignore a risk, you're depending on luck.

Reasons to ignore a risk:

1. The probability of materialization is small enough to ignore.
2. Should the risk materialise, it makes the effort under management irrelevant.
3. The risk has minimal consequences and requires no mitigation.
4. It's somebody else's risk.

When a project comes wrapped as a challenge, it forces you into a posture of counting on a certain amount of luck.

Limiting the extent of your losses in software project work is more important, on average, than doing anything about your wins.