There is a way to make large steps incrementally, but it does not feed management egos. You identify the new set of problems you want to be able to solve in a few years, then you put one or two smart and experienced people on them, and give them enough time to invent solutions, then re-invent them to work better.
If the job is impossible, they'll be able to prove that, as DEC did when they tried to keep VAX performant, and showed that it was impossible, leading to Alpha.
If the job can't be done within the existing software, they'll discover that, with enough time available to plan a drastic change.
What you don't do is put your new development team in an ivory tower. That leads to disasters like Acorn's ARX or Apple's Copeland. You need people who really understand the system you're trying to improve. In the best case I've seen, this was someone returning to full-time work after being part-time while her children were young. She was experienced, and not involved in any current projects.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2022-09-27 12:34 pm (UTC)If the job is impossible, they'll be able to prove that, as DEC did when they tried to keep VAX performant, and showed that it was impossible, leading to Alpha.
If the job can't be done within the existing software, they'll discover that, with enough time available to plan a drastic change.
What you don't do is put your new development team in an ivory tower. That leads to disasters like Acorn's ARX or Apple's Copeland. You need people who really understand the system you're trying to improve. In the best case I've seen, this was someone returning to full-time work after being part-time while her children were young. She was experienced, and not involved in any current projects.