Subject: anonymity  (was: Getting Credit)
Thu Sep 03 16:53:26 1998



> If they're really on their toes, they may come in with a rehearsed,
> polished presentation during which everyone who comes to the meeting
> will have a speaking role.

ye gods.. 

in such a case, i should think you'd be justified leading them into 
the boardroom, then sealing the doorway with bricks.




> >agencies); and anonymous channels to me from everyone (thanks to ideas
> >from Mike's suggested reading for the month).
> 
> Could you explain this anonymous channels idea? I missed the suggested
> reading and don't know what you're talking about.


the book is _The Deadline_, by Tom DeMarco.   it's a light, humorous
novel about project management.. really..


the anonymous channel idea is based on the idea that information gets
corrupted as it travels up the chain of command.

there's an old joke email that demonstrates the problem, if anyone has
it in their backlog.. it starts off with a bunch of programmers who
review a product spec from marketing and say:

    "this is shit, and it stinks!"   
    
by the time the report makes it up to the CEO, it reads something
like:

    "the idea is powerful and will encourage growth."

so the CEO orders full production.


an anonymous channel for communication flattens the heirarchy of an
organization, and allows everyone to communicate as equals.   it gives
the underlings a way to get information to the big boss without facing
the wrath of the middle manager.   

it's even valuable when everyone in the chain has good relationships
with everyone else.   there are still times when it's easier to say
things anonymously, rather than saying them face-to-face.   it's also
easier to be frank when you know the message can't be traced back to
you for further discussion.



the hardest part of making an anonymous forum work is teaching people
to obey the morality, if you will, of anonymity.   when you get bad
news, the first temptation is to trace it back to the source and get
things fixed.   unfortunately, that ruins the anonymity of the system,
and kills the forum.   everything a manager learns through an anonymous 
forum has to be kept secret until the original sender is willing to
announce it publically.

you can still do contingency planning, or completely redefine the
schedule of a project if you have to.   you just have to present it as
something you've decided out of the blue.   it's mostly a matter of
preserving the illusion..

when you talk to team X, you have to say:

   "y'know.. i've been thinking about giving you, oh.. six more
    days to deliver the stuff you're working on."

rather than:

   "according to an anonymous message, you need six more days."

or worst of all:

   "according to an anonymous message, you need six more days.
    not only are you not getting it, but you're all going on 
    manditory overtime as of now!"


the whole "y'know.. " shtick in the first version doesn't really fool
anyone.   all of team X will breathe a prayer of gratitude for whoever
sent in that anonymous message.   even so, it gives the manager a
chance to say everything is okay *before* the team has to admit that
there's a problem.   that, in turn, has one heck of an effect on
morale.   

the odds are good that an announcement of that type will trigger an
impromptu damage control meeting, where everyone starts pouring out
all the doubts and fears they've been holding inside.   you get a
window of extremely open communication.   if you use that to re-focus
the development plan, the team will feel like they owe you one.   they'll
go back to work with fire in their eyes and do their damndest make you 
proud of them on the next pass.