Brooks Law Pitch

Surfing last night for a bit of relaxation, I realised that there are a number of blogs I like, but the google reader app doesn’t make it as neat as it could be to have your ‘web inbox’ show you what’s of interest.  So I caught up with Tim Harford’s Undercover Economist.

The entry on Facebook’s impending doom sparkled, including the reminder of Brook’s Law.  This is simply that “adding manpower to a late software project makes it later”.

I’m confronted by many potential buyers that have seemingly insurmountable problems to overcome.  Remembering my universe revolves around sales team leaders, the issues with which they grapple are omnipresent since all reps got given expensive post-it note holders (aka Laptops) and beyond; reporting compliance, calls per day raises, enlarging pipelines, shortening sales cycles, sluggish new product sales, you know the picture.

I think there’s an evolution of Brook’s Law that’ll really appeal to these people.  ‘Throwing money at something never solves anything’.  There are tons of examples of where big spending fails to change things around.  The largest one in the UK at the moment is any project you care to mention about the NHS.  In my world, I shall now endeavour to check what investment plans my target decision makers have in place for improving whatever it is constitutes their current focus, and demonstrate how I can facilitate such joy through them spending less, not more.