Everyday as the final leg of my commute, I ride the extra busy red line of the DC metro. There is an interesting phenomenon that happens at the stairs leading from union station down to the metro. People get on the escalator calm until they see their train preparing to leave the platform. They start squirming, slightly pushing, and rushing everyone in front of them to get to that leaving train as if trains don’t run every two and a half minutes in the morning.
<p>This same practice happens in many software development projects as well. The project management and the development teams work at a comfortable pace until there the potential of a missed deadline or delivery. At that time, work output is expected to increase, time tables are squeezed, and everyone feels uncomfortable from being pushed.</p>
<p>There is a simple solution for the metro riders. They can realize that all is not loss because another train is coming, or they can simply start their commute earlier. Software development teams could learn a lesson from the experienced metro rider.</p>
