Grumbling Tummy

If you're new here then where have you been? You should subscribe to my RSS newsfeed so you don't miss all the cool stuff going on here.
Thanks for visiting!

One of the Dr Who Dalek films was on TV this morning. I know others have commented on how this superior race was looking to take over the universe, well the universe that is on the ground floor and level ground. It occured to me that the whole failure of the Daleks may be tracked back to their Waterfall project methodology.

Planning
Domination of the universe.

Analysis
Davros and the rest of the Dalek’s design team must have been sitting down in the analysis phase, preparing a detailed specification for the superior extermination machine, feeling quite chuffed and contented.

Design
Wow! They managed to actually design a nice shiny machine with effective weaponry, a scary voice, a rotating vision system and a self contained communications system to talk with the other Daleks.

Build
Now I’m guessing the build was sub-contracted out to someone else! Even after a small pilot phase, I’m guessing it may have been difficult for the Daleks to build more of themselves.

Test
The initial test in the lab went very well on the flat and even floor of the testing facility. Due to the subcontractor delivering the first batch late, the field testing had to be cancelled. The customer would feedback what was wrong and it could be “fixed in the field”!

Release
Oh dear! They didn’t quite perform as expected in the field. Hey the customer will just need to narrow the scope of their target market and compromise on the bigger picture of their business vision.

Maintenance
No need for maintenance as The Doctor kicked their ass!

The Dalek Project Manager
The Daleks had principles and values some Waterfall workers may see in their own project managers:
(Say this to yourself in the way of the Dalek)

• We have no weaknesses!
• Our plan will not fail!
• You will do as we command or be EXTERMINATED!
• DANGER! DANGER! Cannot control, cannot control!
• Exterminate! Exterminate!

Who is now going to hear their project manager’s demands with a Dalek voice from now on?

Now if they’d only used Agile practices the outcome could have been different! It could well have been a case of Dr Who!

For those Dr Who aficionados out there I’m not one and any errors, misinterpretations or errors are not meant. Also it may well be worth getting a life ;-).