When i was starting out in IT, I took a lot of classes to get certifications.  Most of the classes were kinda dumb and not worth it in the long run.  I say dumb they were specific technologies that did not last, how many people took Novell 3 Certification, Novell 4 also?  Novell does not exist, and many of the certifications were so useless.  But back to the story.

I had one teacher who not only had a grasp on the technology, but some great metaphors.  He used the metaphor of scuba diving and compared it to building and releasing applications.  I later found out he was also a diving instructor.  He stated I am going to teach you to plan your dive and dive your plan (Link for entertainment purposes only – this was not the instructor – https://rushkult.com/eng/scubamagazine/plan-your-dive-dive-your-plan).  He wanted us to make sure that our turnovers went smoothly.  He taught us how to make sure we created install scripts, tested them, documented each step and timed to the minute.  Once the scripts and the instructions were completed, we had planned our dive.   The next step, dive to the plan or execute the turnover.

This has stayed with me for over 20 years of building IT projects, and when I follow it, it usually is a flawless release.  I have a short-cutted it a few times with some bad consequences.

Originally Posted in March of 2016, Editing in Dec 2020

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