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10/24/2005: "The Irony of Urgency"

On the extremeprogramming Yahoo! group there has recently been an interesting discussion about urgency. Specifically, what does it mean to work "with a sense of urgency"? IBM touts this as a key trait of a True Blue IBMer: working with a sense of urgency. Is it really desirable? Is there something other than urgency that managers truly want that they don't consciously realize? In reviewing recent conversations with developers in their natural habitat, I have found a delicious irony about urgency.

The more urgency demanded of developers, the more time they spend complaining about the situation. In other words, the very act of demanding developers work with a sense of urgency often leads them to spend less time working (effectively or otherwise) on the project, because they need more time to commiserate with one another about how difficult work is with this overhanging demand for urgency.

Kent Beck has written that he likes to program as though he has all the time in the world. I have to admit that I have done my best work when I have been able to do that. When I spend the time to do it well (not "get it right", since that might take forever), I go faster. You can tell when someone is suffering from the myth of urgency, because he emphasizes doing it over doing it well.