Archaeology. Jonah Lehrer on Distractions, ADHD and Creativity. We live in a time that worships attention.
When we need to work, we force ourselves to focus, to stare straight ahead at the computer screen. There's a Starbucks on seemingly every corner—caffeine makes it easier to concentrate—and when coffee isn't enough, we chug Red Bull. In fact, the ability to pay attention is considered such an essential life skill that the lack of it has become a widespread medical problem. "The Power of Process" by Steve McConnell - IEEE Computer, May 1998. IEEE Computer, May 1998 "The Power of Process" How do you convince people to pay attention to their software development processes?
The word "process" is viewed as a four-letter word by some people in the software development community. These people see "Software Processes" as rigid, restrictive, and inefficient. They hold that the best way to run a project is to hire the best people you can, give them all the resources they ask for, and turn them loose to do what they do best. According to this viewpoint, projects that run without any attention to process can run extremely efficiently. People who hold this viewpoint imagine a work breakdown over the course of a project like the one shown in Figure 1: Figure 1.