cgd@netbsd.org (Chris G. Demetriou) writes:
> Ted Lemon <mellon@isc.org> writes:
> > Mixed messages are unavoidable - unless we are all perfect, we will
> > inevitably have different takes on how to do things.
> 
> Unfortunately, I think it's a fact of life that many "real life"
> organizations are not capable of dealing particularly well with mixed
> messages.
> 
> If you're an organization trying to do something with/for the project,
> and you get two widely divergent answers from two alleged
> representatives of the project, then what do you do?  Pick one?  (not
> necessarily 'safe' -- what if you base something important on the
> wrong answer?)  Spend the time to figure out which is right?  (that's
> the right answer, but it has an up-front cost.)  Punt?

In the end, one can only mitigate the impact of bad management -- not
eliminate it. No amount of good management structure will make up for
bad managers, and no number of good managers can fix a broken
organizational structure (except that, if they're good, they'll
probably eliminate or get around the structure.)

Perry