Position:Home>Philosophy> Are safety-critical projects specially susceptible to Murphy's law ?
Question: Are safety-critical projects specially susceptible to Murphy's law !?
For example
Will there be a tendency to "accept" the latest build, reasoning it wouldn't be offered unless it is fairly good !?
When there are real or imagined hiccups, will anyone try to appear knowledgeable, by saying "I'd heard there was a problem with the process" !?
Does the organization tend to respond to non-existent problems - the problem wouldn't be there if the build hadn't been accepted in the first place!.
Do problems tend to be imaginary - anything about which it can be alleged "I'd heard there was a problem with the process" !?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
safety-Critical projects are not especially prone to Murphy's Law per se, but they are FAR LESS TOLERANT of instances where Murphy's Law occurs!.
Brief answers to your questions:
1!. Only in circumstance where "groupthink" is allowed to prevail!. In engineering the build, it would be reasonable to assume the approach to development has been controlled, but that there may be flaws!.
2!. Only the in the case of the guy shooting for promotion!. The irony is: a good project manager will ask the question: "Why didn't YOU report said problem!?" It implies negligence!.
3!. Not clear what you are asking, but I would surmise that as a project become more heavily invested, the potential problems with the build become more focused--and otherwise overlooked issues will come under greater scrutiny!.
4!. In a dysfunctional organization, perhaps (it's hard to account for individual members' personal agendas)!. In the proper climate, playing the "devil's advocate" is necessary to identifying problems before they manifest in more costly ways!.
Remember, you are talking about safety-critical projects--the room for error is so costly, that it should almost be a given that the PM's (and anyone else worth his/her salt will end up jumping at the occasional phantom)!.
As far as someone pointing out problems in hindsight, that only points to their negligence for not reporting their concern!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Murphy's Law is a fallacy!.Www@QuestionHome@Com