...and other profound articles about development
http://www.chc-3.com/pubs.htm
some whose titles jumped out at me (but I haven't time to read yet ;) )
"Some buildings are beautiful. ...Their beauty also comes from how well they meet their purpose and solve problems posed by the site or the client. The same is true for software." (http://www.chc-3.com/pub/globe_07_06_99.htm)
Most Software Stinks! (http://www.chc-3.com/pub/beautifulsoftware.htm)
Keeping Crashes To A Minimum (http://www.chc-3.com/pub/globe_10_28_99.htm)
Capability Maturity Model -- "the latest cure for all the woes of software project management" (http://www.chc-3.com/pub/globe_cmm.htm)
It's Not About Lines of Code (http://www.developer.com/tech/article.php/988641)
and I think Mr. A (and other "Survivors of The Place That Shall Remain Nameless") will really get a nodding-nonstop kick out of this article:
"An impossibly short development schedule for software ... in the long run it causes a lot of damage..." (http://www.chc-3.com/pub/datam1_04_99.htm)
PS: "who is Chuck Connell"? A rather qualified guy, let's just say:
http://www.chc-3.com/resume.htm
Nice links. The article you pointed out is sort of right though, deadlines for the most part are illusions, but they are so much more as well.
Old Asshat at the Place that Shall Remain Nameless thought he was being crafty by asking for Rome in a day because when he get it in a month rather than a year. He thought he was getting amazing ROI (because of how "smrt" he was). This was what we like to call self delusion, the idea that tricking people into working harder with fictitious, near impossible deadlines generates a) quality work and b) a well organized team is LUDICROUS.
The current "product" has been in development and nowhere near what I would now consider a releasable state since 2004. Sure, they decided to put version numbers on it but at it's core it's the same team rolling out minor upgrades here and there. There are companies who actually use the software, but they have constant issues with the it (and not minor problems either, big workflow inducing, people yelling at people type problems). I remember the original release date of October 29th, 2004 fondly because to me it was the beginning of the end of any kind of sanity at my former employer.
Some good came out of though, I've really, Really, REALLY learned about project and team dynamics and it has almost forced me into taking an upright interest in good management techniques and how to divest actual ROI from more than just nebulous deliverables.