>
> There's ramp up time, for one: you have to figure out what the project's
> about, what you're supposed to do, drop in to figure out someone else's code
> (and for about 75% get rattled because they didn't do it *your* way [the
> not-built/invented-here-syndrome] which costs in the aggravation and
> foot-dragging), etc. There's the communication overhead too: now you have 6
> developers to coordinate, meet with at daily standups, twice as many code
> reviews, etc.
>
Very very true! Are you a software dev, Shag?.
> I read an interesting book, Pragmatic Thinking and Learning, a couple of
> months ago. The author's premise was that software development suffered
> from, among other things, a problem where people are treated as
> interchangeable parts.
That's the IBM I know, and that's why IBM is doomed.
Over the last 10 years I've ran across this situation where I e-mail a given IBMer asking about software "x" of which team he was part of. He replies back saying "I've been moved to ... (this other) software group. I no longer touch that code, try (someone else)... good luck".
IBM is a consulting firm now, which sells big iron on the side... But there isn't any software mojo left...
FC