Testing with Sun Tzu - Chapter 9

After a long hiatus I am back, and intend to finish this before the end of the year. Good thing I have vacation!

Chapter 9 is about The Army On The March. As many know an army marches continually, moreso in ancient warfare which was about positioning your men in the best place to face an enemy, and usually draw them to you. Once firearms became standard, it was all about where you could place your armaments to make the best effect, firing a cannon downhill was preferrable to firing uphill. The British were known to place men in rectangular formations and use volley fire to take out an enemy, the squares were effective as long as they kept in form, although it also made them easy targets for cannon fire. So you have strength and weakness in one form, but as in earlier chapters its learning how to manage the risks so that your strengths are outweighing your weaknesses.

We come now to the question of encamping the army, and observing signs of the enemy. Pass quickly over mountains, and keep in the neighborhood of valleys.

The idea is, not to linger among barren uplands, but to keep close to supplies of water and grass. Just as importantly an army marches on its stomach. Much as Burgoyne learned when trying to take Albany in the American War of Independence, once your supply lines are stretched, and your army is dwindled by leaving men to keep your supplies secure, you eventually can end up in a situation where you are outnumbered and without supplies. A bad situation for any General or leader to be in. So to put this in terms or a project, what you need is to be in a place where you have support and an ability to move about, do not place yourself in a location where you are alone, without support, and more importantly without supplies if you need them. If you are moving along on a project and do not notice that soon you will need a certain environment set up, or some equipment, do not wait until its too late, keep an eye on the terrain of your project and know when you may need that time in the Test Lab. Or if you suddenly need the Automation Engineer to hook you up with some new tests, do it early, not when they are swamped with other work and unavailable. Schedule wisely, to paraphrase another quote.

Do not climb heights in order to fight. So much for mountain warfare.

Do not move up-stream to meet the enemy.

Movement, as I mentioned, was more important in the warfare of previous centuries, one thing that also determined the outcome of various battles was the condition of the army. Forcing long marches to a battle could gain you an advantage, but if you needed to press it later on, say the enemy retreats, then your troops need to be able to follow. Tired people cannot work continually and as much as some may want to whip them on, there is only so much a person can do. Many battles were considered wins because one side or the other owned the field at the end of the day, the usual decider of victory, but there are occasions when the enemy could have been all but annihilated if the troops were in shape enough to pursue in retreat. Just as you cannot move troops infinitely, giving unreasonable schedule demands onto people for a long period of time will eventually cause work to suffer as people tire and cannot maintain focus. More severely they may leave at inopportune times, putting the whole project in trouble.

Looking at these locations in individual terms.

These are the four useful branches of military knowledge

Those, namely, concerned with

(1) mountains

Taking a group to the high ground only increases distance, this can cause animostiy among groups as well, if there is an attitude of superiority that is causing trouble for other groups or more importantly putting other groups off there won't be much cooperation. Just as bringing an army up a mountain can be tiring, putting yourself on the mountain can only sap the resources of others who may be forced to get up to the heights, which can be bad for resources. Mountains can be anything from unrealistic expectations, entry criteria that is not possible to achieve or any large obstacle to advancement. Just as the view may be nice from the mountain, it can also be a lonely place.

(2) rivers,

Rivers are wet. They can also run fast moving things along with it in a way the river wants, look at white water rafting for example, you can ride the current in your big yellow boat, but you can only go where the river is going to let you go. Rivers can also run deep, swamping you and drowning you. Avoid letting the river take your project along at speeds you cannot control and push you into depths where you feel you are drowning, keep control of what is going on, just as the white water raft needs all the oars going to keep its direction, know what direction is it going in. An oar that is not pushing you in the right direction will slow you down and can cause you to hit that looming rock around the river's bend. Keep the project, and the people on it, focused and moving in one direction and you can get through the rapids and to the calmer waters ahead.

(3) marshes,

Marshes slow you down. Anything that is an impediment, or can cause work to slow, is a marsh. They can be sticky, stinky and slow going. While you can get through a marsh, its a delaying route, avoid them. They are not always apparent, so you need to keep an eye out for them, but anything that can be a delay such as sharing of resources, new items added to a project or some new directive can be marshes.

and (4) plains.

Flat lands are easy for access, and make for quick going. But they can also be barren and without resources, armies depended upon a supply train for various things but they also spent time foraging in the areas they were in. Scortched Earth policies go back centuries. Be wary of coming into the home stretch to find out that something important is missing in the areas you are about to inhabit. Keep a good eye on what is required to proceed, and be sure that it is all as you expect. Be sure the Test Lab is set up with the proper equipment, network and devices needed for testing later on, and that it is in good working order. Just because a machine is there does not mean its properly configured.

If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well-disciplined; if not, its discipline will be bad.

If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.

When starting a project don't equivocate on what is required, keep everyone focused and at the same time make sure that when changes come they are voiced one way. Don't let miscommunication enter into it, be sure everyone is aware of changes and what they are, and what they mean. Be consistent with who to go to with questions, or if its a group be sure they speak with one voice. But also be sure that those in charge are approachable, if someone has a question they should feel comfortable asking it, when questions go unasked they answer that someone comes up with that they feel is acceptable, may not be and this can be a delay (or a marsh if you will) to the project. When the project lead is both in command, and the people know what to expect of the lead, and what is expected of them, then leading is easy and the team can move on as one.

In addition, just as an Army moves on its stomach, add in some free lunches or a surprise meal during milestones when possible. If people feel appreciated, even if its just a free meal, they are more willing to go out of their way when needed.

9 down and 4 to go!