An uncompromising insistence on excellence, as well as a healthy pessimism
I came across an interested quote in relation to quality and safety in relation to projects. Ignoring human instincts like the “gut reaction” of some to just get the job done. His ideas dovetail nicely into software engineering where due dates often compromise quality. ”…the words of Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of the nuclear navy and founder of a safety culture with a remarkable record. “Quality must be considered as embracing all factors which contribute to reliable and safe operation,” he wrote. “What is needed is an atmosphere, a subtle attitude, an uncompromising insistence on excellence, as well as a healthy pessimism in technical matters, a pessimism which offsets the normal human tendency to expect that everything will come out right and that no accident can be foreseen – and forestalled – before it happens.”
