Wade HarshmanScrum Master| GDITIndianapolis, In, United States
Does anyone have a word / phrase / metaphor for situations where stakeholders want data just because it exists, and not because they really need it?
It seems like a common problem with projects dealing with data. For example, a product or service might need 2 fields from a database, but someone will want 10 more fields simply because they exist. Rationale is usually along the lines of "We might find a use for it later."
This is bad practice for a number of reasons. I'm just trying to find a clever way of describing it to people who want it. Saving Changes...
- A data scavenger or collector
- Keeping up with the (Data) Jones'
- Valuing (data) quantity over quality
- Being on a sea-data diet (when you see data, you want it :-) )
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Metrics without meaning.
Mountains of data is not a substitute for a bit of useful information
Project management is more than counting things
If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance… Saving Changes...
Mark StewardDirector| Arrow Zee AustraliaSydney, Nsw, Australia
'Sandbagging' is a term sometimes used. You are more likely to come across this in organisations where new resources or information is scarce or in organisations where it is hard to acquire resources or information in the time frame you need it by, the later because of bureaucratic processes that make it impossible to do so. This leads some people to hoard (sandbag) resources - the business equivalent of doomsday prepping? While this can produce positive outcomes, it does tend to mask the underlying issue. Saving Changes...
Hoarding - with all of the implications of a house stuffed full of things you might need one day, but in the meantime they are creating risks (fire, spoilage, damage due to sheer weight and instability). Saving Changes...
Joshua RenderProduct Owner| CognizantHarrisville, Ny, United States
I have heard sandbagging before.
I tend to think of it like a ball of steel wool. You want to get at the meaningful data, a few strands of the steel hairs. As you pull it out, it catches on other data/steel pieces and you find you have difficulty isolating a single strand.
What you end up with is extra garbage and frayed pieces of steel wool.
In some cases, they have to keep that data, regulatory requirements and such. As long as they maintain it and built it right, it isn't usually a huge problem. Saving Changes...
Mindless data indulgence Lifestyles of the Irrational and Dataless Paranoia Saving Changes...
Guilherme CalobaProduction Engineer| PETROBRASRio De Janeiro, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Sandbagging
UPP (Useless Piles of Paper)
Bitter bits and bytes
the list goes on and on... we all been there. I once did a Monte Carlo Simulation and the client wanted the maximum duration explained... Go figure! Saving Changes...
