Wednesday 20 May 2009

Terri-Tastic!

The title of this post really has the opposite of what you might think. Terri-Tastic has more of a negative meaning than anything else. For example, when you sit through a one hour meeting, where the first 15-25 minutes is spent figuring out how to get everyone on the call, saying hellos and general small talk, getting the silly collaboration "tools" working, planning for the next call, etc... and then you finally have the discussion where absolutely nothing happens because you've revisited a discussion that you had 20 times already over the past 2 years, that is Terri-Tastic.

Another example is when the IT department mandates the use of their special PCs and Windows build (which is badly broken to begin with), and that uses a different version of Java to run the VPN client than is required to run the time booking/management/vacation tracking system. So as soon as you are connected via the VPN, you cannot manage your time/booking/vacation because the Java application won't run on your IT-sanctioned PC. Ready to rip your hair out yet? I am.

The final example of this term would be a discussion about some topic, call it designing high speed lollipops, where the product management - who has spent months and months compiling the so-called requirements -- decides that they no longer like them because they wish to use a different technology to build this high-speed lollipop than is needed by the customer requirements -- decide to change (yes change!) the requirements. When it is pointed out that they are no longer customer requirements, and you then get a blank stare this is a Terri-Tastic moment.

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