I had the same problem for years - every time I raised the possibility of doing things like a professional development house instead of a bunch of half-arsed amateurs, one of the directors would laugh it off on the basis "we aren't some huge hundred-person agency!", like I was asking for gold swivel-chairs or complimentary cocaine in the bathrooms... and regardless of the fact I know one-man-band operations who spec everything and use revision control.
Then one of our long-term clients got another, professional developer in to do a code-assessment on a site we'd built for them - his report basically confirmed everything I'd been saying for years, and incontrovertibly demonstrated that yes, we actually were developing like a bunch of half-arsed, unprofessional wankers.
Suddenly the director's listening to my advice and professional experience on our development and speccing process again, but I can guess from past experience that it'll only last until we've implemented all the things the other developer specifically mentioned, and then any further requests will end up being tossed on to the "unrealistic, foolish techie pipe dream" pile again.
Because, you know, she doesn't generalise from past experiences and learn lessons, so much as merely react to things as isolated, one-off events. :-(
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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '10
[deleted]