Bad idea killer bingo
=====================

Tuesday 28 July 2009 15:03

Well, wouldn't it be easier to just look at the
checklist of 24 issues before you go into a meeting
and waste other people's time with your bad ideas?
Sure, during a brainstorm the rules prevent these
issues from coming up, but that shouldn't fool some
creative people into thinking these issues should
never come up, or every meeting they are in is
somehow magically a brainstorm session, and they
should be rewarded for their ideas before anyone is
allowed to point out how bad they are. A third of
the issues are just questions that only kill an
idea if the one coming up with the idea has no clue
on how to answer them. Which probably indicates the
idea is just from the bottom of the barrel, not a
good idea, just the least bad idea before a
deadline. What's the point of a meeting if you just
seem not to be able to accept that your idea can be
bad, that it's always wild and crazy and can grow,
because it's your idea? Don't you realize it's the
others' job to not let you get away with getting
paid for crappy ideas? It's not Kindergarten
anymore.

Good programmers know they are crap. They've got
test systems constantly telling them they made some
mistake, use version control systems to find out on
monday the idiot screwing things up was themselves
last friday, and to stay in business you'll have to
address those 24 issues about every minute. That's
why good code is never wild and crazy, or why
programmers don't fool themselves into thinking
their wild and crazy idea will grow in a good way.
Programmers evaluate their code constantly.

When do creative people evaluate their ideas? After
they put them in their portfolio and left for
another company? After they can blame the execution
for implementing it badly? I mean, I have this idea
involving flying pigs...

Via mon petit vole.

by Roland van Ipenburg
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ipenburg/blog/posts/work/2009/07/28/bad-idea-killer-bingo/