Of Code, Customers and Money!
Disclaimer: This is a rock-solid rant!!! Read on…
The Situation:
We had to give our client an interim delivery on the project we were working on. A phase that involved testing third party code to ensure it was “without defects” so that we would be able to integrate it into our mainstream systems in the coming phases. And guess what… I was completely wrong about the “without defects” part of the previous statement.
Not only was the application badly written, but the third-party team changed the requirements doc without informing us. And to top it all, their build that was delivered to us did’nt contain a properly filled up “Known Issues” document! And my client intends to make it to the market before spring!!!
The Rant:
This is a case of really bad coordination and mismanagement. When there are three entirely different teams working out of 3 geographically different locations, it is IMPERATIVE that everyone is on the same page! Why on earth do we have E-Mail??? Why on earth do we have VOIP??? Why on earth do we have Phones???
If it is still badly coordinated, it boils down to only one thing: “The organization that wants to sell that code doesnt care about the customer!“ When you have something that you intend to sell, the first and foremost expectation should not be to make money! It is to give something valuable in order to get the money you intend to earn!
And in this project that I’ve been working on, there have been some things that I’ve definitely been shocked to observe. And I’d take them as stepping stones in handling things in my life here on…
- You cannot work for just money! You have to work because you love it. Working just for money kills the output. And you will get your money, but someone else will suffer. And it will boomerang back to you! Sometime later… But, definitely!
- Realise that someday, you may have to eat your own cake! That you made for money!
- Please take pride in your work! Life IS full of shit! Nevertheless…
- When you make something for your customer, make it with a sense of respect. It’s called duty. Not JOB!
- People want to pay! Believe me! People want to pay. But they also want something of more worth than the money that leaves their pockets.
- The best guys in the market thrive because they give the customers an experience! Not a commodity! And there lies everything about money.
- A customer would shell out a lifetime worth of savings to have an experience. Steve jobs gave people an experience with the iPhone! Nokia gave people experiences with the N-Series! Sony Ericsson gave people experiences with their Walkman phones! People love experiences. People cannot love a product. It is an inanimate piece of sh**!!!
Now, coming back to the crux of my post, organizations become market leaders with the right perspective of a customer experience in mind. And then, where does it go??? A lot of companies strive to push the envelope in providing a better and a more fruitful experience… And a lot more dont!!! They just start looking at the big bucks! No more quality, no more happy customers.
And their organization is now thriving just on old relationships in business, and on scale that they have as a market leader. But for how long? When people that are part of the organization fail to attach themselves to it, and they just do their “JOB“, we’re in for a landslide into the abyss…
Wake up big guys, wake up!!!!
