Sherman’s Law of Doomed Software Projects – Software projects with the word “Next” or “New” in the name are doomed.
Sherman’s Law only applies to the internal name used by the people working on the software itself. Names used in marketing or external communication don’t count.
Projects with the word “Next” in the title are doomed because no one wants the next version of your software. Paying customers aren’t paying today because of the promise of a Next generation of the software. Internal customers want software that helps them do their job today. They are using the software today, because it solves a problem today.
Could there be future customers out there who have the problem your current software solves, but who will only buy if you release the next generation? Sure, but if they’re willing to wait the problem isn’t that pressing and they probably won’t buy the next generation either.
Projects with the word “New” in the title are doomed because new is temporary and muddles project goals. The new version starts off with clear goals and business value, but time is the enemy. Whatever gets released is new, regardless of the goals and value in the final product.
If “next” and “new” are names for doomed projects, what names can you use?
You’ve got an existing product or service, and you need to do major work on it. At the end, you’ll have the “next” generation, or “new” version of the product or service. Speak to the reason you need to do the work.
If you discover that your software is fundamentally insecure, you don’t need a “Next Generation” project, you need “Maximum Security”. If your system is slow, don’t start a “New” version that is faster, you need project “Lightspeed”.
I once wrote a piece of software named Polaris. When the time came for major work, which name would focus the team and drive alignment better – Next Generation Polaris, or Maximum Security Polaris? New Polaris, or Lightspeed Polaris?
Don’t doom your project, don’t use “Next” or “New”!
