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April 23, 2007
The Viking Laws
Last year, I had a week long vacation in Iceland. While there, I picked up a t-shirt with the viking laws printed on the front. These laws were guidelines for conducting a viking expedition. The laws themselves are:
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- Be direct.
- Grab all opportunities.
- Using varying methods of attack.
- Be versatile and agile.
- Attack one target at a time.
- Don't plan everything in detail.
- Use top quality weapons.
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Be prepared.
- Keep weapons in good condition.
- Keep in shape.
- Find good battle comrades.
- Agree on important points.
- Choose one chief.
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Be a good merchant.
- Find out what the market needs.
- Don't make promises that you can't keep.
- Don't demand overpayment.
- Arrange things so that you can return.
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Keep the camp in order.
- Keep things tidy and organized.
- Arrange enjoyable activities which strengthen the group.
- Make sure everyone does useful work.
- Consult all members of the group for advice.
These laws are pretty relevant to software development and the software business in general. In my experience, problems during software development projects stem from one of these guidelines not being followed. It is particularly dangerous to ignore Choose one chief, Find good battle comrades, or Don't make promises that you can't keep. Yet again, advice on software development has come from an apparently unrelated source.
Posted by JohnC at April 23, 2007 10:33 AM