Design of Design - Chapter 10

This chapter begins by introducing a new term, limiting resource, being any resource that is "scarce" and must be budgeted. Brooks points out that there are many other limiting resources besides money, and the limiting resource is actually not usually money. He says that even when it is money, there are several different ways money can be a limiting resource. And, even when money is the limiting resource, designers will often find another resource that is directly tied to cost and make that the "surrogate" limiting resource. The author also points out that limiting resources are not fixed; they can change. Then, after all this, Brooks closes the chapter by telling us what we should do once we find the limiting resource: identify explicitly, track publicly, and control firmly.