Methodology and culture: drivers of mediocrity in software engineering?

Abstract

Methodology implementation failure is attributed to developer mediocrity (by management) – not to organizational mediocrity (rigidity or control-driven, process-driven management), or to a lack of adaptation capability in the methodology. In supporting software construction as a creative process, however, we must promote excellence rather than conformity. We argue that we – through principled research -- must pay attention to the interplay between methodology and culture – the local adaptations needed to make things work, understand how the two co-evolve and how they may contribute together to software quality.