CategoryAntiPattern

'''Problem: '''
A project is visibly in trouble.

'''Context: '''
The most visible symptom of project trouble is that it is 
behind schedule. More troubling is that the rate of schedule 
slippage is geometric or exponential -- it gets worse with
every report. That it is behind schedule for reasons other
than lack of resource is ignored.

'''Forces: '''
	* Project is "too important" to simply kill.
	* Everyone seems busy, therefore the problem is that "everyone" isn't big enough.
	* Project plans are expressed in "person-days," suggesting that "persons" and "days" are interchangeable.

'''Solution: '''
Management finds one or more resources that are available,
and "loans" them to the problem project.

'''Resulting Context: '''
BrooksLaw causes the project schedule to inflate out of
control, until it is either killed or radically scaled back.

'''Rationale: '''
Nobody loans useful resources, therefore TheLoaner is going
to be someone who is "available" largely because they are not
currently solving someone else's problems. Unless there is a
lack of problems to solve, this is usually because TheLoaner
is under-trained, incapable, or otherwise unable to be
productive.

'''AntiPatternAntidote: '''
	* Don't accept TheLoaner blindly -- make sure they can actually impact schedule.
	* Negotiate long loan lengths to better "amortize" the fixed costs of the loan of training and bringing the new person up to speed.
	* TheLoaner's work '''must''' be properly documented, because he won't be around when it breaks.
	* Assign them a "stunt double" to work closely with (see PairProgramming).

'''References: '''
Special Team Members, ''The Smalltalk Report,'' February, 1996.

See http://www.bytesmiths.com/Publications/9602SpecialTeam.html

'''Author: ''' JanSteinman and BarbaraYates, February, 1995.