Some educational shows for development shops and development managers can be found, surprizingly, on the Food Network (US, Canada, not to mention that many are played on, and often originate from, various other "lifestyle" type channels).

Some of these shows are homegrown, such as Restaurant Makeover and Opening Soon, while others are imports, like the excellent Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Jamie Oliver's School Dinners, and Jamie's Great Escape.

You've probably gained the impression that I'm an epicurean, interested in the operations of the restaurants, and probably dreaming of the day when I can open my own ("We'll make the best French onion soup ever!"). While I do like well-prepared menu delights, the food is the least interesting part of these shows, in my opinion. And I have zero interest in opening a restaurant (the dream-crushed rate among restaruranteurs has to rank among the worst for passion pursuits), and like small-talk as much as I like getting a tax bill.

Instead the real message of these shows boil down to -

• Passion - When you don't have passion, it's hard to enjoy yourself, much less produce a good product. Whether it's a cook that's using mix to make soup (a "copy/paste" chef), or a software developer judiciously copy-pasting, doing the minimum possible to stay employed, dreaming of whatever comes after the work day ends.
• Communications - Open, honest communications is critical in a team, keeping everyone on the same page, letting everyone contribute to the success.
• Simplicity - a bad core product isn't made better by embellishments and complexity. The more focused a product is, the more likely it will be of quality.
• Realism - the end result of realism is usually simplicity, and it's a realization of what your strengths and domain really are, allowing you to narrow your focus. Trying to cater to all guests, or in the case of software to build solutions that handle any problem, is bound to lead to a third-rate solution (or meal) for a wide audience, but a first-rate solution for no one.

Situations analogous to the software development process endlessly play out between chefs and his staff (team managers/leads and their team members), the chef and the front-room staff (team managers/leads and business partners), and the restaurant and customers (the organization and end users). Many times the solutions parallel how the similar situation would be solved in the software development field.

If you relax to television on occasion, and mourn the summertime (speaking to the Northern hemisphere in that statement) dearth of original programming, check out some of these shows for an informative eye-opener.

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