As a programmer working in an insurance office, I have a nasty little management hierarchy which is making programming much harder.
At current, our IT department rates a three on The Joel Test, which worries me. I'd like to fix this, but management enforces an insanely aggressive release schedule. Basically every project is due "yesterday". As a result basic planning is nearly impossible. Best practices like planning, documentation, and testing are all overlooked on every project we attempt.
So far, I've tried a myriad of methods. Everything from trying to frighten them with worst case scenarios, to referring to industry standards for advice on how to proceed on a subject. I'm at the end of my rope.
So the question is, what methods have worked for other programmers to change how management views programming. My biggest fear is that it is simply impossible to make them see the light, and the solution is "work somewhere else".
Thanks in advance!