For those who know me, some may view me as unforgiving, harsh and critical. I never regret what I’d said to some of these people whom I worked with. This post is not an entry of self-justification, it is a reminder to most of us who are very comfortable with mediocrity.
The root of mediocrity…
I wrote a brash email to my manager over the issue of time-sheet. Despite my futile attempts to better at office diplomacy, I have to do something about such wide-spread stupidity. We hardly stop and as why, or challenge certain assumptions.
The fundamental problem:
The naive association of quality/productivity with time
Yes, I understand time is money but what triggered me to write all these was this statement (paraphrased): “Each of you must work 40.5 hr/week, otherwise you will be seen as not productive”.
Unfortunately, by making people behave like punch-card workers does not make it any better, regardless of project or product-base development. Mediocrity is encouraged and reinforced by such management practices. With such a system, people will be conditioned to see the value of their work measured in units of time alone.
The most obvious sign of failures of such a system is increase in the time of development-cycles. Why? Because most people will give themselves more time! Suppose you complete sooner and better, then you will be seen as NOT productive because your time-sheet shows that you are spending less time. So why bother to improve, might as well take your own time?
The cure…
This may look ridiculously simple but it is not easy:
1. Measure your work in terms of the benefits
I am not talking about benefiting yourself but others (customers and fellow-workers) in general. Quantifying benefits is much more motivating because it let’s you see something more than a task or job. When your company sells something, it is all about the benefits, no one gives much a damn about the zillion features without first seeing the benefits.
2. Create competitive advantages
Sales people think Benefits, Advantages then Features. Engineering on the other hand does the reverse: create features that translate to advantages and benefits. In fact, good engineers are predominately focus on handling failures, so don’t blame for being too negative, it is just part of the job. That being said, it doesn’t mean we can’t quantify in terms of advantages and benefits.
3. Do more with less time (and not the reverse)
This has to do with attitude which leads to wider skill-set and creativity. Even if you were a specialist, it doesn’t hurt to understand other roles (eg sales or support) so as to work better together. It is good to ask if there is a better way to do something, especially so if it is frequently done. Can we save time and do-away with stuff that has little value but time-consuming? Of course, that is true if one is able to discern what is valuable. If in doubt, read 2 and 3 again.
Closing note…
Yeah, I know it is not politically-correct or nice to talk-down others. I usually do not give a shit if I do not have to work with these people. But I have to say something because it is a matter of survival. If people choose to remain status quo and take more time, use silly NPV valuation approach based on man-days, then we will be out of business soon!
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