Sunday, November 17, 2013

Obamacare's Pre-existing Conditions, #1 in a series of undetermined length

Have we missed an important point regarding the delays and software difficulties with HEALTHCARE.GOV? It is possible that many members of the team are suffering from a medical condition known as SADD. SADD or "Software Almost Done Disorder" affects millions of IT technical professionals and project managers. Its incubation period is about six weeks for the commercial strain and up to a year for the government strain. SADD is a chronic condition that worsens over time, normally until the sufferer retires, changes careers, or gets a glue about best practices and productivity. Sufferers are unable to clearly articulate a definition of "done".  Even with a reasonable grasp of "done", they often exhibit an inability to plan their work, execute the plan, or adequately test the results.

If it is determined HEALTHCARE.GOV has not met its project goals because key members of the project team have pre-existing cases of SADD, then we may have to re-think the path forward. Those members of the team may be eligible for disability pay, and full availability of the site may have to wait until after they complete their treatment regimens, return to work and remediate the defects in the system.

Note: SADD was first documented as an occupational disorder among IT professionals in 2005 by Chris Drummonds on this forum.

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