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Reminds me of http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?SecondSystemEffect

Agreed. I'll hand it to Jason Fried though: it's good to see someone try to relate the concepts in Mythical Man Month to non-programmers.

I recommended MMM to a friend when problems at his workplace sounded like things that came up in software design or project management. But when I reviewed the book, I found that a lot of the big-picture concepts required if not understanding, then at least familiarity with programming and/or older computer systems. It's still a good book, but I ended up feeling like he wouldn't get what I got out of it.

I disagree. I found a lot of MMM to be applicable to my experience, despite the fact that I've never done any mainframe or systems programming professionally. The one portion of the book that could be updated is Brooks' vision of the ideal project team. Many of the positions he's envisioned (toolsmith, language lawyer, etc.) are outdated now that individual programmers have so many more resources at their disposal.

If we're talking about project management issues, though, I'd recommend Yourdon's "Death March" over "The Mythical Man-Month". That book has a lot more to say on how to deal with management that refuses to pick two out of "good, fast, cheap" and insists that all three are achievable.

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