One reason I really wanted to run my own business was to be able to do business and live my life honestly. I have a very honest way of working with my customers, they know I can only give so much time and it may take some time to get what they want. But it works out, because they are happy with the results.
While working on a project there are various phases in the development cycle, but one that has never been written in books is the phase I like to call, “relaxation and reflection”. I go through periods where I work very hard and kind of exhaust myself. Then I need to stop work for at least a few days and just think about what I’ve done. Make sure things are fitting together correctly and heading in the right direction.
Just to fly right in the face of traditional development cycles, I find this “relaxation and reflection” phase needs to happen, among other times, right before the code is placed into production? Yes, that’s right. Right when the customer wants it, right when the tension’s the highest, it’s time to take a break. How can that be?
Well, if you want the code to work, and you want to enjoy the maintenance cycle, and you want to enjoy your life, and you want your customers to be happy, then you need to make sure you’ve done the right thing before you throw it out into the wild.
This is just plain true, but I don’t expect IT departments or software development companies to understand it any time soon. This is because they are run by managers, and managers never really understand anything, so it doesn’t even make a bit of sense to take the time to understand things. Understanding things is not what they do. There’s nothing for them to understand, it’s all about deadlines to them. As long as something crappy that mostly works is put out on time, they get their bonus.
This is how small consulting companies can come into the game and thrive, by hitting large companies in their soft spot: quality.
It’s to the point now where people don’t expect to ever get quality, so if you can provide it, especially at a reasonable price, that’s really going to work for your business. It sounds obvious, which makes it even more strange that it doesn’t happen that often.
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