Review the Reviewer

I have always believed that reviews are essential & a waste of time. That's theory & practice competing in reality.

Without reviews, the wheels fall off very quickly - the fear of failure is as likely a driver to success as any other, & being reviewed is one way to instil such a fear. It doesn't matter if we're talking about code reviews or performance reviews, the fact that, at some point, there will be a review is usually enough to cover the period of non-review with a mild sheen of paranoia sufficient to keep the wheels well greased.

That's the theory.

In practice, reviews are badly done by people who don't want to do them, don't understand why they need to be done, & see the 'chore' of the job as the worst kind of punishment known to developer-hood. Again, it doesn't matter if you're reviewing a peer or junior's performance, or looking over their shoulder at the code. Adding a similar driver of being reviewed on how well you review, or how well you perform your job of reviewing, may get back some of that paranoia, but only if the actions taken on those who fail to live up to their responsibilities does not reward them.

The worst reviewers need more practice, not to be let off the hook. They need to be reviewed more closely while reviewing. They need to be embarrassed into being better at it, or taking it more seriously. If this doesn't happen, then the review is definitely a waste of time - not just for the person being reviewed & the reviewer, but also the administrator who correlates this effectively irrelevant data point with the past & future.

Without a review process that reflects on itself, understands its limitations, & works towards fixing itself to gain relevance to all involved & the environment in which they live, the anarchy of not knowing is detrimental to the business.

As each layer of review is added, we climb the CMM staircase towards looking deep into our own navels, admittedly, but that way we see ourselves reflected most accurately in the dim light of dawning awareness.

If we never review, we never discover what we're doing wrong or could do better, we never change, we never progress, we never get job satisfaction. But then, if we don't review, maybe we'll never notice.