I would like to believe that when pilots are locked into the cockpit of a commercial airline and we’re thousands of feet above ground traveling hundreds of miles an hour that these folks are focused completely on the task at hand. Recent developments with a flight bound for Minneapolis have revealed a disturbing picture not just of momentary distraction – but rather of complete off-the-job behavior that had the aircraft over-shoot its destination by more than a hundred miles.
Wrench In The System By Harold Hambrose
What’s Sabotaging Your Business Software And How You Can Release The Power To Innovate
Every year businesses waste billions of pounds, not by squandering money on private jets or bonus schemes, but by using products that drain productivity and reduce profitability – defective SOFTWARE.
In his groundbreaking new book, Wrench In The System, author and designer Harold Hambrose demonstrates how smart businesses can make massive savings by creating and using software that communicates clearly and simply with the people who use it. By making basic design companywide and significantly reduce training costs in the process…
Here is a brief video of Harold Hambrose discussing his book and some helpful advice for small to medium sized companies.
From the October 9, 2009 Vol.31 Issue 25 of Processor
Computer Software is among some of the most intricate and elaborate creations—complexity that’s likely the root of why it’s so failure-prone, hard to use, quirky, and rife with security holes. Yet is software really so different from other inventions? Is it inherently more byzantine than a jetliner, automobile, or even cell phone? Or is the problem more that standard software development practices just haven’t matured?
Harold Hambrose, in “Wrench in the System,” argues the latter: that software systems aren’t subjected to the same rigorous, formalized design and specification processes as their physical counterparts. “It’s just a product—a man-made tool that is developed, manufactured, marketed, licensed, and sold,” he says. Yet there’s one key difference: “We have come to accept that the software we use won’t work in the way we expect.”…
“Wrench in the System” is an insightful examination of the problems with today’s software systems and ways to improve them. Hambrose’s design perspective is a refreshing alternative to the conventional software development wisdom and should serve as a manifesto for those trying to improve the quality and usability of business applications.
By Jeff Cogswell
This is a beautiful hardcover book printed on glossy pages with full-color photos, and the author says exactly what’s been on my mind for a long time. When I was into the first chapter, I grabbed a highlighter, thinking I’d copy a paragraph or two for this article, but I soon found I was highlighting the entire book.
The first chapter starts right out talking about how so much software has turned into lemons—yet, unlike other products, we can’t just send it back for a refund. The author points out, “If you pay more than $25 for almost any product that doesn’t work properly despite its written warranty, the Magnuson-Moss Act will back you in court … which enables buyers to obtain satisfaction for goods that fail to perform…” But this doesn’t apply to software, thanks to the licensing agreements. He adds: “The owner of a $15 million software product that turns out to be too difficult to use has much less chance of obtaining a refund or a replacement than the buyer of a defective DustBuster.” Read more »
From a Computerworld review on October 5, 2009.
Wrench in the System has one powerful message: We’re building our software enterprise applications all wrong. . . . Businesses need software “that sparks excitement in its target community of human users–excitement that their work is easier and more enjoyable, that they have become more effective, and that their employer is supplying tools that make them feel like part of a winning team.” We have a long way to go.
