Abstract
Ants and people, ant work and software engineering; they are not as unrelated as one might think. Perhaps the ideas in this article provide an antidote for your organization or project; or perhaps the challenges presented in this article that confront software projects are the antithesis of your own organization, and you do not anticipate any immediate changes. Regardless of the outcome, you now have another context in which to examine the people and productivity in your organization. Do not be too surprised if you pay closer attention the next time you pass an ant hill.