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The Specter of Litigation

SIM New York November 13, 2000. The Specter of Litigation. Tim Lister. The Specter of Failure. The Specter of Failure Without a Technical Reason. Might rain?. Background. I am an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Assoc. I serve as an expert witness in

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The Specter of Litigation

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  1. SIM New York November 13, 2000 The Specter of Litigation Tim Lister

  2. The Specter of Failure

  3. The Specter of Failure Without a Technical Reason

  4. Might rain?

  5. Background I am an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Assoc. I serve as an expert witness in litigation over project failure I have never found a case of an “unlucky” project

  6. The A.A.A.

  7. There is always a social context World of technical issues World of organizational issues World of expectations World of politics

  8. The client hates us.

  9. Getting to the contract The Spec IS the contract. Until there is a spec there can be no assumption of agreement. Lawyer on the CONFIRM project… The contract took so long to build and for all parties to agree to sign, We knew there would be trouble.

  10. Contract types fit in the life cycle feasibility analysis design code & test Cost plus? Fixed price? Incentive?

  11. FATAL!!! Some projects never get to contract. They never have a spec. “The functionality of this system Is completely described in Appendix A, The Functional Specification.” ~Arbitration 1999

  12. Closing the loop Online order+ payment Ship list SYSTEM (What we agree to make.) cancellation Customer info Gift order+ payment EFT

  13. Making sure you have a spec Somewhere at about 20% of the project duration spent, you should have a context diagram If you don’t, stop all other activities and spend full effort on completing one. When you get one, make it your project logo

  14. Another Artist’s Sketch

  15. Be very cautious The Contractor built something without an Appendix A For CONMFIRM all signed “the spec” The FAA spec was a “hard read.” Were they all fools?

  16. Counter- implementation We are embedded in politics. Our projects are always political because they cause change... the scariest kind of change: shift of power. Information Systems and Organizational Change Peter G.W. Keen Sloan School of Management, MIT Communication of the ACM January 1981, Vol24,No1

  17. Diverting Resources pork barrel easy money easy life budget pile on up for grabs keep the peace Deflecting Goals

  18. Dissipating Energies odd man out tenacity not our problem territory reputation

  19. To Take Away You are always in a political situation Who will gain; who will lose? Where are you vulnerable? When people appear irrational, look for motivation.

  20. Thank you for inviting me. Thanks, Jerry. Tim Lister The Atlantic Systems Guild (212) 620-4282 lister@acm.org

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