I’m quickly reading through Brooks’ latest tome, The Design of Design. As usual, Brooks is straight up and to the point explaining his views on design and why it’s a solo or, at most, a 2-person task. This makes sense to me, but I tend to be biased. The implementation is a team effort, but not the design.
One thing I noticed courtesy of John Cook’s blog is what amounts to two new additions to Brooks’ Law.
Brooks’ Law is the famous “Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.” We can now add:
- “Many hands make light work” — Often.
- Corollary: “Many hands make more work” — Always.
And what I’d call Brooks’ Law of Design:
- Most great works have been made by one mind. The exceptions have been made by two minds.
Obviously, I highly recommend anything written by Fred Brooks. His Mythical Man Month is a classic that everyone should read, especially project managers. His new book is the same, a must read.
I’ve always loved the fact that Brooks has little use for the Waterfall Model. I loathe it, and it seems he does too. I like being in good company 
.