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From: bwb@sei.cmu.edu (Bruce Benson)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Specification Tools and Code Testing
Message-ID: <8412@fy.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: 29 Aug 90 18:00:34 GMT
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University (Software Engineering Institute), Pgh, PA
Lines: 45

References: <20013@well.sf.ca.us> <1990Aug13.140347.9441@nixtdc.uucp> <19578@well.sf.ca.us> <8316@fy.sei.cmu.edu> <29390@athertn.Atherton.COM> <141454@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Reply-To: bwb@sei.cmu.edu (Bruce Benson)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA

In article <141454@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> donm@margot.Eng.Sun.COM (Don Miller) writes:
>In article <29390@athertn.Atherton.COM> mcgregor@hemlock.Atherton.COM (Scott McGregor) writes:
>>The point when you need experienced people is when you are trying to 
>>change the way you do things, or start out on new work. Less experienced
>>people sometimes hesitate to test the limits of their knowledge unless
>>they know that there is a recognized expert around who can help them
>>get out if they find themselves hopeless wedged in a horrible situation.
>
>   I disagree.  In many cases experienced people have become entrenched
>   in doing things the way they have been successful.  This tends to make
>   them resistant to change, regardless of its potential merits.
>   Inexperienced (but not necessarily ignorant) people are often
>   more reactive to change because they don't recognize it as such.
>   Both sides of this argument rely on generalizations, though.  

I just finished being part of a team that did a software "self assessment"
on an organization.  It was interesting to note the differences between
problem perception in the "old timers" (about 10 years on the job) and
newer folks (1-3 years).  When asked to talked about an actual problem
in the organization the "old timers" would always further explain the
problem in great detail (much more detail than we had collected), and
then say they were aware of it.  The feeling I got was: "yeah, I know
a lot about that problem, so what?"  When the newcomers were asked,
they launched into the problem (in less glorious detail) and talked about
possible solutions.

What stood out was the "old-timers" (usually middle managers) seemed so
comfortable with the problems (like an old buddy).  It was also fairly
obvious they considered the newcomer's perception of these problems as
"personal problems" of the newcomers (whose bosses were these middle
managers).

Not enough data points to draw any real conclusions, but the consistency
during the interviews was remarkable.


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