> As soon as Sphero completed the acquisition, bringing Kelsus in as an app developer, two things happened: 1) Sphero told us they needed fully revamped iOS and Android apps six months later with no schedule wiggle room. 2) Sphero spent the first two of those six months organizing a team on their side and hashing out requirements for the new apps.
This exact pattern has preceded every mismanagement disaster I've ever seen:
1) Management gives an unreasonable deadline to developers before defining the deliverables. Clock starts ticking.
2) Management then fails to settle on the requirements for months and/or continuously moves the goalposts while people are trying to work, turning an unreasonable deadline into an impossible deadline
3) Developers start realizing that they're going to receive the blame when impossible deadline isn't achieved, despite not having any control in the matter. They start leaving for new jobs, and the death spiral begins.
It's the universal pattern of a management team that doesn't know how to do anything other than make demands and then apply pressure. Unless you can get someone in charge who has real leadership and planning skills, it's not recoverable.
This exact pattern has preceded every mismanagement disaster I've ever seen:
1) Management gives an unreasonable deadline to developers before defining the deliverables. Clock starts ticking.
2) Management then fails to settle on the requirements for months and/or continuously moves the goalposts while people are trying to work, turning an unreasonable deadline into an impossible deadline
3) Developers start realizing that they're going to receive the blame when impossible deadline isn't achieved, despite not having any control in the matter. They start leaving for new jobs, and the death spiral begins.
It's the universal pattern of a management team that doesn't know how to do anything other than make demands and then apply pressure. Unless you can get someone in charge who has real leadership and planning skills, it's not recoverable.