Why Software Development is like Ironing a Thneed

 “I’m being quite useful. This thing is a Thneed.
A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!
It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove. It's a hat.
But it has OTHER uses. Yes, far beyond that.
You can use it for carpets. For pillows! For sheets!
Or curtains! Or covers for bicycle seats!"

                                         – from “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss

During my time in the military two decades ago I become highly skilled at ironing. And not only shirts and pants, but beds, hats, sheets and other items one would not normally consider “ironable”. I continue to this day to do my own ironing. I actually find it rather therapeutic.

Since having children I have also become reacquainted with the works of Theodor Geisel, more affectionately known as Dr. Seuss. It struck me the other day while ironing a particularly pesky shirt that software development is very much like ironing a Thneed.

So let’s make some assumptions about a Thneed based on the description above. Some poetic licence and imagination will be required.

1. Nobody is entirely sure what a Thneed is, not even the manufacturer.
2. When customers buy a Thneed they have only a vague idea of what they need it for and how it is going to make their lives better.
3. No two Thneed’s are exactly alike; they are the snowflakes of garments.
4. Thneed producers create new and improved Thneed’s all the time.
5. A Thneed is too big and awkwardly shaped to fit on your ironing board and Dr. Seuss makes no mention of a Thneed-press.
6. It is hard, if not impossible, to estimate how long it will take you or a highly trained team of Thneed-ironers to iron a Thneed, with any level of accuracy or confidence in your estimate.
7. The market for Thneed-ironing accessories is confusing in its profusion, pace and super-competitiveness.
8. Thneed-ironing methodologies were derived from shirt and pants ironing methodologies, but they are actually poorly suited.
9. A Thneed is like most other garments in that it occasionally requires ironing.
10. Thneed manufactures’ own Thneed’s are usually the worst ironed.

So based on the assumptions above, how does one go about ironing this Thneed thing? Well the trick is known by every person who has ever had to iron a shirt.

Manipulate the garment so that a small piece of it is flat on the ironing board and then iron that piece. Then get another piece flat and iron that piece, and so on and so on, until you have ironed the entire garment. If you are foolish enough to try to iron large sections of the garment at the beginning, you will become very frustrated and will probably run out of steam before you are done. You have to “divide and conquer” when it comes to ironing a Thneed; that is the winning strategy.

I don’t think that I need to actually spell out why this is like software development; if you have done any software development in your life you will know that I am right (or mostly so).

Maybe someday I will post “Why Architects are like the Lorax, and Users like the Once-ler”. On second thoughts maybe I won’t.

Happy Ironing!