You Want IT When?

As a reader of Businessweek, I usually start from the back. That’s where Jack and Suzy Welch answer questions from the readers. In the June 30th publication, there is a quote from the Welch’s that hits upon a recurring theme of mine, and I’d like to share it. They talk about the challenge of balancing future requirements with current requirements. Here’s what they have to say:

… Because, in our opinion, one of the fundamental tenets of management is that you have to eat while you dream, meaning, you have to make money in the short term while you invest for the long. Any dope can do one or the other. To keep the cash flowing, simply squeeze everyone and everything you’ve got. The same goes for strategy. Just tell everyone to buzz off — you’re busy envisioning the future. The challenge of leadership is balancing today’s needs with tomorrow’s opportunities.

Tomorrow’s opportunities need to be balanced with today’s needs. There’s no formula here, and notice where he says that opportunity lies: in the future. Many use the word “enough” to describe this relationship favoring the present over the future, but “balance” is more appropriate as it doesn’t favor either the present or the future. It’s situational as it should be, and overly favoring the present sacrifices opportunity. Who can afford that? Finally, it’s the essence of good leadership. Here’s the article: “While Coporate Europe Fiddles…“

For about 10 months I’ve had the world map displayed on the top left sidebar of this web site. It’s a really cool free widget created by amung.us. Whenever a visitor visits the web site, it posts a marker on the world map identifying the location of each visitor.  Recently, the markers on the map have been resetting everyday.   Since I like the cumulative record of visitors on the map, I contacted the company and asked why they made the change, and here is their response:

We experienced some technical difficulties at one of our data centers which resulted in some users missing stats data. We are attempting to recover any lost data, and restore the service to full working capacity.

Thank you for bearing with us during this time.

Christopher C. Shannon

whos.amung.us

Christopher responded quite rapidly, and I appreciated his frank response.  However, I grew impatient waiting for a fix, and I’ve been thinking about upgrading to feedjit.com for a while now. I hesitated because I didn’t want to lose all the data that has accumulated since I’ve been using maps.amung.us.  While I was drawn to feedjit.com’s widget because I like the map better, it wasn’t enough to make me switch even though maps.amung.us hadn’t made a single improvement since I began using the widget ten months ago.  However with this defect, there was nothing to lose by giving feedjit.com’s widget a try, and so I did. 

The web changes everything.  Now that so much software is offered for free, the barrier for switching vendors based on price is gone.  Consequently, high quality is even more important when the barrier to switching vendors is nearly zero.  Quality and useful features on the first delivery are a competitive advantage, and they are often more important to consumers than new/enhanced features delivered frequently.  Incremental, frequent enhancements to satisfied customers is simply not required, but if you get your quality wrong or deliver the wrong features, you will lose customers — even formerly satisfied customers.

If you liked this essay, you may also like the following related posts.

• Agile Content is the Goal
• Does Agile Solve the Right Problem?
• Burnt Toast

It’s suggested that the web has changed everything.  Whatever requirements there were for delivering desktop applications, the requirements for delivering web applications has changed.

For the web, the thinking goes; delivery of new features to customers is paramount to remain competitive.   Maybe it’s true, but what’s the evidence?  My own experience with popular web sites does not support this conclusion.

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Agile doesn’t work in the real world is essentially the conclusion of David Starr, an Agile proponent, in his article “Why Agile Doesn’t Work.”  First, he informs us of what is the primary objective of Agile software development methodologies:

Sure, TDD works, so does continuous integration, and a host of other great development practices. The truth is, though, that the real Agile value proposition was never about code. Better software with higher quality and excellent craftsmanship is a great side effect, but Agile is really about changing how products are created and delivered. Agile intends to fundamentally change the model of your relationships with clients and coworkers.

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They said it wouldn’t happen again, but it did.  The American auto industry wouldn’t be caught unprepared again when another energy crisis were to hit the economy. Sure, consumers were all too complicit by indulging in the conspicuous consumption of oversized vehicles: the Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).  You probably have seen them in the shopping mall parking lot.  They extend about four feet beyond the length of the designated parking space, and their width bulges beyond each side of the yellow lines.

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The price of gasoline is changing.  It’s been increasing for quite a few years now.  From an economic standpoint, it’s not very good.   Scientists say the Earth is warming.  Global warming will make the Earth less hospitable to many animals, maybe even to man.   Not all change is good.

Change is a fact of life in the technology industry, and most changes have been wonderful.  The internet is revolutionizing many aspects of our daily lives for the better.  We have cell phones, Blackberries, and iPods that have improved our ability to communicate and enjoy our leisure time.   The gaming industry must change just to remain competitive, and the gaming experience has improved dramatically over a short time.   Change is often good; change is often necessary.

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I’ve been reading a few essays on blogs that say the aim should be good enough.  It’s hard for me to get excited about good enough.  It’s not very motivating. Think about it.  Can you get excited to get up every morning and say, “I can’t wait to go to work today and do a good enough job?”  How uninspiring?

Picture this.  You are a member of a new project team that is planning to build a new product that competes with Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft.  The manager calls a project kickoff meeting with the software development team.  To motivate and focus the team, he outlines the strategy to the troops.   He exclaims, “I don’t want you to get carried away with aiming for perfection.  Our goal is to develop a good enough product to begin to win market share away from Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft.”  It’s like some Dilbert cartoon. 

I didn’t get into the software business to build good enough products, and I’m pretty sure most people in this business didn’t either.   Could you picture yourself interviewing with a company, and the interviewer says, “Our software teams aim to build good enough products.”  As you shake hands and begin to exit the interview, you ask yourself, “I wonder how many people they hook with that line?”

Think about it.  Has Apple dominated the MP3 space because they decided to build a good enough product?   Has Apple actually aimed to build anything that you would consider good enough?  Is Google dominating the search market because their search is good enough?  Is the huge demand for the WII game console the result of a good enough product decision? 

Who get’s inspired to buy good enough?  What kind of demographic is that?  If you’re aiming to sell your products in the local five and dime store, good enough is all that’s required.  The commercial software market is extremely competitive.  Good enough won’t cut it for very long.

People who advocate good enough contrast it with perfection, but there is another choice: excellence.  Choose to build an excellent product.  Choose to build the best product. Not only will it be good for the bottom line, you will find that you are attracting the best talent in the industry.  Moral is high when individuals and teams are aiming high.  The best talent doesn’t aim to be good enough; they aim to be the best.  Aim to be good enough, and those who aim for excellence will leave your company and your products in the dust.