Grand Designs

Projects not meeting the schedule.
Budget spiralling out of control.
Unforeseen problems.
An "anyone can do that it doesn't need a professional" mentality.

No, I'm not talking about the typical s/w project but a TV program, Grand Designs where people build their dream homes - though in the process the dream can become a nightmare. Nice to watch as a counter to those who claim that software projects can learn from the house building industry

The episode I watched last night was a classic - a couple building a home in the French Alps.

Highlights included:

• Finding out the house didn't have a proper foundation so walls - and the entire house - were in danger of collapsing.


• Tears and disbelief when the owner found out the builders were not following the spec.


• The owner realising that trying to manage a building project in the French Alps from England was not working.


• The owner not understanding the local culture and finding out that the workers would leave for lunch and also had different jobs during the summer which meant they stopped work on the building.


• The main building foreman being called Monsieur Bastard

Good viewing for project managers ( and a source of ideas for when I land that big lottery win....)