The Mythical Man-Month

Noun · Hacker Culture

Definitions

  1. Fred Brooks’s influential book on software project management, best known for arguing that adding people to a late project often makes it later because coordination costs rise. The title became shorthand for the limits of naive staffing assumptions.

    In plain English: A famous software management book arguing that more people do not automatically make a late project finish sooner.

    Example: "Every manager tempted to solve delay with headcount should read The Mythical Man-Month first."

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