There are No Silver Bullets

 

LL: Don’t shop around for silver bullets. Just do it right.

Risk: If a team is banking on some fancy new tool to save their bacon and complete the embedded software faster than normal, it's probably not going to end well.

This has been proven over the past 50 years. There are no silver bullets or pixie dust. In most cases it’s easier and just as fast to do it right per the accepted methods.

Chasing silver bullets results in wasted time. If there is a real belief that a silver bullet may exist, set up a rapid-response team to pursue it independently. If it does pan out, it will be of value for the next project.

See Mythical Man-Month Chapter 16: “No Silver Bullet – Essence and Accident”

Questions:

• What “Silver Bullets” are the team pursuing? 

These are non-traditional things that the team perceives will allow them to leapfrog past a technical difficulty or significant effort.

Some examples of Silver Bullets: a new programming language, new programming tool, Model Based Design, AI, auto code generation, developing our own XXXX in-house (when the companies that develop those with a team of 200+ people have not done it yet), etc.

Don't get me wrong, some of these are great tools and can truly save time. However, expecting to learn a new tool and become proficient while working per an already tight schedule is a recipe for failure and despair.