Creative Design and Clear Specs

For Christmas I received the book Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg. I’m about halfway through, and Rosenberg interesting point about specifications. They are, by definition, specific (or at least they should be). Developers will write to the spec. Whether the spec solves the business need is a separate issue, but when it comes to software construction (like any type of construction), given a well-written specification the developers should be following the specification to the letter.

However, developers also need to get creative when participating earlier in the process, during design. At many shops (every shop I’ve ever worked at), developers will play both roles, participating in design and then later in construction. This dual role of creative thinker and rigid document-follower is an interesting paradox, a situation where in performing the duties of ones job, the mind needs to be creative and come up with new ideas, then reach a stage where new ideas are inherently bad and potentially project-damaging.

Perhaps the ideal programmer would have some sort of controllable multiple personality situation…