Woehlke’s Law
Nothing gets done till nothing gets done.
Project Managers will not get the staff they need so long as they muddle through with overtime, ulcers and super-human effort. Only when deadlines are missed will senior management approve the staff who, had they been available at the outset, would have prevented the missed deadlines.
Brooks’ Law
Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.
Named after Fred Brooks, author of the well-known book on project management, The Mythical Man-Month.
Cohn’s Law
The more time you spend reporting on what you are doing, the less time you have available to do anything else. Stability is achieved when you spend all your time doing nothing but reporting on the nothing you are doing.
Parkinson’s Law
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
Coined by C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–1993), who also coined its corollaries:
- Expenditure rises to meet income.
- When relating to computers: Programs expand to fill all available memory.
Dilbert Principle
The Dilbert Principle proposes that the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.
By Scott Adams as a variation of the Peter Principle of employee advancement. Named after Adams’ Dilbert comic strip.
Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle states that for many phenomena, 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes.
90 – 90 Rule
The first 90% of a Project takes 90% of the allocated time and effort. The remaining 10% takes the other 90% of the allocated time and effort.
Murphy’s Law
Murphy’s Law states that what can go wrong will go wrong.