Agile, waterfall, iterative, staged, gated, phased-none of it really matters if all you create are a few early "wins", mediocre solutions, and quick fixes. Many organizations twist the time pressure screws so tightly that creative thinking can only be done after work or surreptitiously during the five-minute coffee break or the fifteen-minute lunch at your desk. We often are told that “good enough” software is what the company needs. Although “good enough” is acceptable when the systems we create neither differentiate us from our competitors nor are critical to our mission, why do we waste precious resources creating those kinds of systems? Tim Lister knows that there is hope because many organizations do create superior systems-systems that set them above their competitors and wow their customers. What are these organizations doing to yield innovative, superior results from their software development?

Looking for an insightful-and humorous-review of the management disasters you may have witnessed during your professional software career? Ken Whitaker has collected seven of the most common disasters that he’s encountered in his lifetime of “in the trenches” software leadership roles. One of the habits everyone should appreciate is “Hiring Someone Who is Not Quite Qualified (but Who is Liked by Everyone).” Presented as a series of case studies, Ken explores these all-too-real situations that can be difficult to prevent and handle. Whether you are just starting out in a management role, an experienced software manager, a skilled project manager, or considering going into management, you'll take away valuable tips and techniques for avoiding these seven deadly management habits or handling them with fortitude.

We understand the vital importance of collaboration among team members. However, how can we deal with non-collaborators-people who won't work with us? Although we may not be able to change them, we may be able to work with them or around them. Pollyanna Pixton describes how to identify non-collaborators-a leader, team member, team, or even a process. She then examines the system within which the non-collaborators work: their success factors, motivations, measurement and reward systems, fears, hot buttons, and hidden agendas. Pollyanna teaches you how to assess the risks in dealing with non-collaborators. Using a trust and ownership model, she maps the traits of non-collaborators and considers tools and techniques to cope with each trait. Finally, if all else fails, learn the options for working around non-collaborators.

Earned Value Management (EVM) is one of the key topics in most all project management courses and is part of the Project Management Institute's PMP® certification and PMBOK®. However, many software project managers do not understand EVM well-and even fewer practice it well. James McCaffrey demystifies EVM, explores its benefits, and clearly explains the often confusing terminology-planned value, earned value, actual cost, schedule variance, schedule performance index, cost variance, and cost performance index. In this hands-on class, you'll practice EVM techniques through a set of short and simple exercises within a case study. Leave with a rock solid understanding of the assumptions made by EVM, how to compute and correctly interpret EVM metrics, when EVM techniques are appropriate to use, and when alternative approaches are more suitable.