The Mythical Man-Month (Worth Reading Again)

The blog post "Estimates? We Don't Need No Stinking Estimates!" was passed around my software team. It contains a reference to Frederick Brooks' essay "The Mythical Man-Month". As far as No Estimates is concerned, I like Mike Cohn's view in "Estimates are Not Commitments".

The reference to Brooks prompted me to review his essay and the wonderfully insightful wisdom contained therein.  On introducing Brooks' Law, Brooks writes:

Oversimplifying outrageously, we state Brooks's Law: Adding manpower to a late project only makes it later.

People are often familiar with Brooks' Law but are unaware of the other insights contained in The Mythical Man-Month.