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From: hlavaty@CRVAX.Sri.Com
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: bridge building and discipline
Message-ID: <24527@unix.SRI.COM>
Date: 20 May 91 20:55:59 GMT
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Organization: SRI International
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In article <4563.282e83ea@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com>, kambic@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com (George X. Kambic, Allen-Bradley Inc.) writes...
>In article <1991May9.053311.800@netcom.COM>, jls@netcom.COM (Jim Showalter) writes:
>[...]
>>
>The effort to
>collect meaningful metrics data will make it possible to determine if
>individual contributors are not meeting project goals.  At what point does the
>"bottom-line" person determine the state and fate of this person.  The
>paraphrased statement attributed to Humphrey implies never.  This is unreal.

Try reading "Controlling Software Projects" by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister.  They
propose a system where the metrics person is NOT the management chain - in fact,
it is forbidden for the metrics person to EVER reveal a specific name to a 
management person.  The reason is exactly as you describe - once anyone got
burned because of the metric data, the accuracy of all subsequent data is shot.
Of course, getting management to swallow this is the hard part...:=)  However,
if they do, at least they get metrics data that shows them more than they would
without it.  Another basic premise of the concept is that most people want to 
do a good job, and if the metrics person shows an individual how they rate 
compared to everyone else, most will try and maximize the metric result to make
themselves look (and feel) good.  In practice, I'll bet the metrics person has
to be a very smooth talker! :=)
By the way, I don't see this as really relevant to the original point of 
imposing basic software engineering principles or HOLs that have been proven
successfull by others.   Collecting individual metrics is a much bigger step
fraught with a lot more problems, such as the ones you describe.

Jim Hlavaty