Software is intellectual property, and creating software is primary an intellectual endeavor. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 3.

The only authority stems from knowledge, not position. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 48.

Customers often won't tell you what they really want, particularly if it goes against conventional wisdom. Because they're insecure, they'll tell you instead what they think they're supposed to say they want. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 74.

Pursue the anomalies in your information. That will often allow you to break free of the chains of conventional wisdom. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 74.

Software development is more like a jam session than an orchestrated event. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 87.

It should be a fundamental dogma that the person who has to do the work should predict the amount of time it will take. Of course, if accuracy isn't a goal, anybody can make the foolish predictions. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 88.

The ultimate act of disempowerment is to take away the responsibility for the schedule from those who must live by it. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 88.

Keep in mind that in an asylum, the sane are crazy. And in an organization in which irrationality prevails, the irrationality tends to concentrate the further up you go. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 89.

You might be able to cope with irrational and self-destructive organizational values, but you're unlikely to prosper in such a setting. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 89.

It is acceptable - even mandatory - to articulate your ignorance, so that no one misjudges the state of things, how much is still unknown. If you don't cultivate and disseminate a "lucid ignorance", disaster will surely befall you. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 99.

It is essential not to profess to know, or to seem to know, or to accept that someone else knows, that which is unknown. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 99.

...when something is unknown, the best policy is to state that simple fact, even if the unknown is not knowing when the software will ship. Don't worry about it. No one can be hired to take your place who will be able to know the unknown. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 100.

There are crucial elements to systems that cannot be known in advance. Project planning requires an iterative process. You can't do it once and be done with it (e.g., the Waterfall method).
The goal on a software development project is not to have the correct plan in advance but to make the right decisions every day as things that were unknown become known. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 101.

Software developers work in a technical field, but many aren't very technical when choosing software practices. They cling emotionally to code-and-fix development rather than choosing practices based on analytical assessments of what works best. James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager)

McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 166.

What do pigs eat?

Apparently, James McCarthy (Microsoft software developer and manager) grew up on a pig farm in Iowa.


As my Iowan father used to say, "When there isn't enough feed in the feedlot, the pigs'll eat each other." McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 168.

Can you think of any segment of the population that, when there isn't enough to do X on others, will start doing X on and between themselves? Fill in something for X and see how well it fits.

...most people's superficial notion of "teamwork" is that it is equivalent to some namby-pamby consensus and bogus good cheer. The only consensus worth having is a creative one achieved in the combat of fully engaged intellects. Such a consensus is born of sleepless nights, fear of rejection, and trials of personal courage. Conflict, which usually presages growth, is the hallmark of such consensus. McCarthy, J. (1995). Dynamics of Software Development. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press., p. 44.

Sometimes this idea of ignoring conflict is called a "mutual admiration society".

The "peer-review" system used in many academic areas falls prey to the idea of a "mutual admiration society". Any really new or useful idea tends not be seen by those in such a group.

The term "group think" can apply to such groups.