Process Theater vs. Technical Excellence: A Recurring Software Crisis

The term “snake oil salesman” is often used to describe individuals who engage in deceptive marketing practices. Wild west characters like Clark Stanley advertised their snake oil as a wondrous cure-all remedy. But in 1916, the U.S. government’s Bureau of Chemistry tested the liniment, found it to be dramatically overpriced and of limited value, and Stanley was fined $20.

Yet that’s not the end of the story.

You Probably Use Snake Oil

Snake oil wasn’t entirely purposeless. While it’s true that it didn’t match the claims on the…