It is well known fact that most developers suffer from a disease called egotism. The question I am currently pondering is if managers (either intentional or subconsciously) prey on this sense of pride.

A number of my previous articles seem to all have a reoccurring theme: developer over estimates, manager over commits, developer works late and takes blame.

There are many phases in the development lifecycle where this phenomenon occurs, and if compounded can be recipe for disaster.

Phase 1: Estimation

Managers know that developers suck at estimation – unfortunately, developers do not. As a result, developers compensate their inability to predict the future with an egotistical, artificial, low, single point estimation. Developers always will be held responsible for estimations not given in ranges and probability.

Phase 2: Perceived progress

While the project is in transit, again, it is the developer who is asked to give an estimate of perceived progress and velocity. Developers would rather give a optimistic report and use the Gut Instinct equation. “90% complete – 90% of the time”, and again the problem compounds.

Note: I wish people would start using Agile or SCRUM so this topic is mute…but I digress.

Phase 3: Fictitious end-game velocity

The project is now in trouble because developer’s suck at estimation through all phases of the development lifecycle. What is a developer to do? That’s right, work until 3 AM every night and never tell any one. Again pride comes into play here, and the result is managers come to find late nights the expectation rather than the exception.

It is my perception that during a project the developer ego grows to compensate for the lack of true insight. Consequently, the manager is presented with a best of both worlds option – the project outcome is on the shoulders of the developer and the manager is allowed to commit to fictitious schedules based on bad information.

What is your opinion? Are managers blind to this behavior? Do they allow it because it benefits them? Do we allow it because we are egotistical or narcissistic?

This is my 75th post, and in anticipation for my 100th post, I am very proud to announce the 1st Annual Squeezed Reader Contest!

I know I have the best readers but now it is your turn to prove it. The prizes are very worthwhile:

The first place reader will win a free 4GB iPod Nano. You even get to choose your own color!

This prize was generously donated by Monkey Junkie Electronics!

The runner-up prize is just as swank – perhaps the coolest laptop bag ever! Atlassian (the makers of JIRA) donated this ultra-fine piece of swag just for the contest! Thanks again Jon!

For coming in 3rd, you get 3 Atlassian t-shirts! All different sizes and styles, a sure fit for anyone.

Alright, do I have your attention? Wanna learn how to win some free stuff? The rules are pretty simple – be a codesqueeze reader that participates!

Although I am holding the secret point list very hidden, here are some of my ideas that will win big participation points:

• Subscribe to codesqueeze – First off, you don’t want to miss your chance at commenting on a great post! If you aren’t subscribed these are easy bonus points – RSS / Email
• Write a guest post – Mucho grande points. Get on my good side and get some guest posts in early. Topics are subject to proofing, but you know what this blog is about…
• Blog using a codesqueeze post as the discussion point – It is really fun to read how others interpreted my ideas, and why they may or may not work.
• Blogroll codesqueeze – A little link love never hurt!
• Quality comments – Posts past or present, I will never close comments on any of my posts as I am willing to discuss them until I am blue in the face. Take another look at the archives and find something to discuss!
• Leverage social networks – Use your Digg, StumbleUpon, or del.icio.us accounts to rack up numerous small points by digging, reviewing, or bookmarking pages. I am always watching…
• Add codesqueeze to your Technorati Favorites – Simple as clicking here

How will I track the points? On my 99th post, I will ask you to email me some basic things so I can tally points: social network usernames, links or posts I may have missed, etc etc.

The contest will run until I hit my 100th post, where I will announce the big winners! Let’s get some great discussion going!

The ALT.NET conference was a fun and invigorating weekend of ongoing debate. All the discussions can be summarized with – It depends!

There is a shared perception that .NET and Agile communities will look for answers from this Open Space. Perhaps the greatest point of this conference – it wasn’t about coming to a consensus on a single ideal for the community. More importantly, we wanted to echo the question – Does this process, practice, or pattern work in this context? The answer – it depends.

A lot interesting topics raised a lot of interesting questions:

• Would I achieve better client communication or noise by practicing BDD?
• Why is the .NET community slower to adopt alternative development practices?
• Are anemic domain models a better implementation of DDD or is placing domain specific logic in entities more important?
• Why does Laribee think his pants hold magical Agile powers?

With such a high concentration of brilliant people and diversified experience there wasn’t a topic that didn’t have a opposing voice. In the end, the only answer we would agree on was – it depends. This is a refreshing message to contradict some of the voices in my head.

In short, this weekend was about passionate people learning from each other on how to become even more pragmatic. By debating different philosophies and tactics, we all walked away with a richer understanding of shared pains and possible solutions.

If you didn’t get a chance to attend, IglooCoder has a slew of great posts on a few of the different sessions:

• ALT.NET Day 1
• ALT.NET Day 2, Session 1 — Bringing the passion
• ALT.NET Day 2, Session 2 — BDD
• ALT.NET Day 2, Session 3 — MS MVC Preview
• ALT.NET Day 2, Session 4 — DDD
• ALT.NET Day 3, Session 1 — Getting the message out
• ALT.NET Day 3, Session 2 — Language Oriented Programming

Update: David Woods has a slew of good posts as well.

If you classify yourself as ALT.NET you will never find a better use of a weekend. Be sure to look out for the next and try to attend…and don’t forget your Agile pants.