Re:Kent Beck: “I get paid for code that works, not for tests...
by didibus on Friday December 09, 2016 @03:58PM
(#13141788)
I agree with you. I think most often then not, you need to withhold the inferior alternative, or be very careful in how you presented it. If you downplay the risks, or you don't emphasize them enough one way or another, it will still end up being your fault, even in writing.
Trade offs that are business related can be delegated and should be delegated to the business to make. But saying something like: "if we do A, it could make us vulnerable to X,Y,Z technical problems, but would allow you to have what your business needs 7 days early" can be dangerous, because it assumes the business stakeholders truly understands the dangers of technical issues X,Y and Z, which they almost always do not.
As an engineer, you should advise the business towards the proper way to do things, and you are responsible to make sure your advice is clear and loud. It is sometimes appropriate to suggest the less ideal scenario, but if you do, be ready to assume full responsibility and ownership on it.
You should never have an advice that goes like: "Yes we can do it, but it'll cause other problems." and expect for these other problems to not be your responsibility to fix and mitigate as they appear. The implicit of all your suggestions is always: "I can make this work." So better be sure whatever you suggest you can actually have it work.
Trade offs that are business related can be delegated and should be delegated to the business to make. But saying something like: "if we do A, it could make us vulnerable to X,Y,Z technical problems, but would allow you to have what your business needs 7 days early" can be dangerous, because it assumes the business stakeholders truly understands the dangers of technical issues X,Y and Z, which they almost always do not.
As an engineer, you should advise the business towards the proper way to do things, and you are responsible to make sure your advice is clear and loud. It is sometimes appropriate to suggest the less ideal scenario, but if you do, be ready to assume full responsibility and ownership on it.
You should never have an advice that goes like: "Yes we can do it, but it'll cause other problems." and expect for these other problems to not be your responsibility to fix and mitigate as they appear. The implicit of all your suggestions is always: "I can make this work." So better be sure whatever you suggest you can actually have it work.