“Invading Iraq”. This is another post about web development clients.
The other day I proposed a new piece of web developer jargon - “cutting your dick off”. Here’s another one. Web developers take note.
“Invading Iraq” is what I call a huge-ass project that was fucked from Day 1.
It’s usually when a client with way too much money takes on an ambitious project with a dumb idea justified on hasty assumptions based on significantly miscalculated projections. Many Fortune 50 clients have Iraq projects they don’t like to talk about and almost 90% of the VC funded startup clients I’ve had fall into this category.
Typically its a matter of some execs with a ridiculous vision to capitalize on a market opportunity having way too much leverage to acquire money and resources but completely lack any grounding on reality in terms of what the people want or how to build it, all while being too pigheaded to deviate from the plan when things go wrong.
Kind of like being a spoiled president with an opportunity to invade a country without repercussions, a budget surplus, some loose intelligence about WMDs, and a ridiculous plan to quickly invade, be greeted as liberators and open up a new trade partner. All the while never thinking through the costly consequences of NOT being greeted warmly and being too pigheaded to change course - which results in continually dumping resources and lives into a plan that was f’d from the start.
From a project management perspective Iraq was a giant project that was fucked from Day 1. And thats why a huge-ass fucked project is called “invading Iraq”.
