Coldewey Consulting Publications No matter how good the technique of a project is, the project is doomed to fail if the team doesn't jell or the exterior political issues are not regarded. A successful project depends on a good balance between politics, team building, and technique. The publications on this page describe some techniques I have found to be helpful in my work as a consultant.

• Jens Coldewey: Lazy Leader, Coldewey Consulting 1998.

I used to write a regular column on consulting in the German magazine Objekt Spektrum. Please refer to the (German) Consulting Column page for details. The following articles have been published in German, before the column was changed to a column about Agile Processes:

• OOA für Datenmodellierer (OOA for Data Modellers) (March/April 98)
• Von einem, der auszog, Patterns zu lehren (Tale of someone who tried to teach patterns) (May/June 98)
• Immer zu zweit - Programmieren in Pärchen (Always Two - Pair Programming) (Sep/Oct 98)
• Sanfter Wechsel - Über die Einführung neuer Entwicklungsprozesse (Tender Change - Deployment of New Development Processes) (Jul/Aug 99)
• Sanfter Wechsel (Teil 2): Bericht über einen Prozeß-Workshop (Tender Change (Part 2) - A Process Workshop) (Sep/Oct 99)
• Sanfter Wechsel (Teil 3): Prozeßwandel im Projekt (Tender Change(Part 3) - Prcocess Evolution in the Project) (Nov/Dec 99)
• Geld stinkt nicht - über Kompetenz, Ethik und Honorare(Money Doesn't Smell - About Ethics, Competence and Pricing) (March/April 2000)
• "Reviews reviewed": Einem ungeliebten Werkzeug zu neuen Ehren verholfen(Reviews Reviewed - Revitalizing an Unloved Tool) (August/September/October 2000)
• Über sieben Brücken musst Du geh'n - Eine Kritik am Software Engineering(There are Seven Bridges to Cross - A critique of Software Engineering) (January/February 2001)
• Die allein selig machende Lehre - Über Methodenberatung, Missionierung und andere Todsünden (The One and Only Truth - About Methods Consulting, Missions, and Other Capital Crimes (March/April 2001)

Lazy Leader

Coldewey Consulting 1998.

Sometimes the team leader puts herself on the critical path. When the going gets tough she hasn’t the resources to rescue the project. So keep the leader off the critical path.

This is a single pattern I wrote when I assisted Alistair Cockburn doing a workshop on writing management patterns. It was also reviewed during the demo workshop on the opening session of EuroPLoP '98.

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