Quality Software Management
Vol 2. First-Order Measurement

is the title of an excellent book by Jerry Weinberg (isbn 0-932633-24-2). This is the second snippet review for this book (here's the first). As usual I'm going to quote from a few pages:
The update cycle on the project control panel should be scaled to something less than the longest period of time the project can afford to be late.
Large projects always fail when their communication systems fail.
The slowdown of fault removal is a major reason why project times are underestimated.
In the end, it's not the observation that counts, it's the response to the observation. That's why Zen masters teach patience in response.
Culture makes its presence known through patterns that persist over time.
What power corrupts most thoroughly is the ability to make meaning of observations.
Incongruent behaviour is the number one enemy of quality, because it disguises what people truly value.
If you can see it you can review it.
The switch from cost observation to value observation is the strongest indication that an organization has made the transition from Pattern 2 [Routine] to Pattern 3 [Steering].
In my consulting, I frequently talk to managers who seem obsessed with cutting the cost of software or reducing development time, but I seldom find a manager obsessed with improving value.
No other observational skill may be more important to software engineering than precision listening.