having worked in both a large corporations and small ones. Large corporations tend to have a lot more resources to use (and waste). The small ones tend to be much more efficient in getting things done.
As an example:
Working at a large corporation I spent 4 weeks (yes a full month) in all-day long meetings to data model an old DOS app. At the meetings were, myself, the other developer on the project, the two researchers who were collecting the the data the app was going to be using, my boss, two project managers, the two stake holders, the data modeler and her assistant. The result of which was a data layout that made the circuit diagram for the Pentium IV chip look simple, and data descriptions about the thickness of the Manhattan phonebook. The two researchers sat down with us (the other developer and I) and in 2 hours we produced a model that did everything we needed and fit on an 8 1/2"x11" sheet of paper.
I hung the two on my cube wall for comparison labeled: "Designed by committee" and "Designed by reality"
At a small corporation you tend to skip that first part (the meetings and wasted time/effort) and get only the parties you need involved when you need them.
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