Fixers

Another set of data comes from working with executives that move from software organization to software organization. These executives are “fixers”; they have mastered the art of taking a chaotic software organization and turning it around. These executives are thrilled at the challenge and look for organizations with low productivity, poor quality, and weak profit margins.

These fixers implement measurement programs to demonstrate progress and success. They implement a measurement program within the first few weeks of their arrival on a new job, and some implement measurement programs before their first day on the job. These fixers generally take a lower salary in exchange for a six-figure bonus based upon performance. They know what works, and they have a lot of skin in the game. They base their success on quantifiable results, not upon opinions. These fixers take organizations from sixty hours per function point to fifteen hours per function point in less than two years. They improve productivity by forty-five hours per function point. It takes them another two years to move the organization from fifteen hours per function point to under ten hours per function point.

In all these types of assignments, I do not have much trouble collecting and gathering data. When a senior executive has a mid six-figure bonus tied to performance, or a board member stands to make millions of dollars, I don’t have many problems getting access to the information I need to conduct my analysis.