Leader Quotes by Tom DeMarco

“More important than any gimmick you introduce is a change in attitude. People must learn that it’s okay sometimes not to answer their phones,…

— Tom DeMarco

“We have become so obsessed with getting rid of people who are burdened with the characterization overhead that we have ended up with organizations…

— Tom DeMarco

The more you focus on control, the more likely you're working on a project that's striving to deliver something of relatively minor value.

— Tom DeMarco

Product quality has almost nothing to do with defects or their lack.

— Tom DeMarco

“Internal competition has the direct effect of making coaching difficult or impossible.”

— Tom DeMarco

“People under time pressure don’t work better—they just work faster.”

— Tom DeMarco

“The most obvious defensive management ploys are prescriptive Methodologies (“My people are too dumb to build systems without them” ) and technical interference by…

— Tom DeMarco

“The need for uniformity is a sign of insecurity on the part of management. Strong managers don’t care when team members cut their hair…

— Tom DeMarco

“If you’ve got decent people under you, there is probably nothing you can do to improve their chances of success more dramatically than to…

— Tom DeMarco

“While this [10 to 1] productivity differential among programmers is understandable, there is also a 10 to 1 difference in productivity among software organizations”

— Tom DeMarco

Training is practice doing a new task much more slowly than an expert would do it.

— Tom DeMarco

If you find yourself concentrating on the technology rather than the sociology, you're like the vaudeville character who loses his keys on a dark…

— Tom DeMarco

“in the best organizations, the short term is not the only thing that matters. What matters more is being best. And that’s a long-term…

— Tom DeMarco

“Although your staff may be exposed to the message “work longer and harder” while they’re at the office, they’re getting a very different message…

— Tom DeMarco

Computer system analysis is like child-rearing; you can do grievous damage, but you cannot ensure success.

— Tom DeMarco