Red Squirrel Reflections Dave Hoover explores the psychology of software development

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Resistance is Futile
Friday, September 13, 2002

Once again I feel as though I am being swept down a river, able to swim a little this way, a little that way, but unable to resist the frothy current. I found myself at the Evanston Family Therapy Center web site yesterday. I filled out a form to join their mailing list, commenting about my ongoing interest in narrative therapy and my current interest in software development. Gene Combs, co-author of Narrative Therapy: The Social Construction of Preferred Realities, emailed me back a few hours later, expressing interest in hearing my ideas about narrative therapy and software development teams. If he can get through my long-winded response I hope to be able to develop an ongoing collaboration with him.

Just as I was wrapping up my email to Gene, I got a call from Mike regarding the KMAR project. He asked me to put together a prototype so that he and Ryan can get a glimpse of a web-based KMAR. The prototype will generate some significant revenue, so I went ahead and ordered a PowerBook. I was a happy camper.

My reading during both commutes yesterday reaffirmed that Jerry Weinberg is my favorite author. When reading his books, I often find myself in the dilemma of wanting to underline too much and write down too many of his quotes. There is so much everyday wisdom, some of it overlapping from book-to-book, which helps me see his ideas from slightly different angles.

My favorite quote from yesterday's reading:

"The chances of solving a problem decline the closer you get to finding out who was the cause of the problem."

This quote, to me, reflects a philoshophy that I learned in my studies on narrative therapy. What is more worthy of our time together? Finding some entity on which to place blame? Or finding a more helpful way of approaching this problem?

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