Ruminations

Just Do Something

I encounter some variation of "just do something" more often than you can imagine:

• Just create something and we'll tell you what's wrong with it.
• We want to see what you come up with first. Then we'll get you our requirements.
• You've done this type of thing before. What are your ideas?
• Just do something. We need a way to handle this.

These types of phrases signal troubled times ahead, my friends. Trouble with a capital "T", and that rhymes with "P", but that doesn't stand for planning (my apologies to The Music Man). One of the reasons we started ElixWare was to avoid these far-too-common pitfalls.

"Just do something" is not a prudent strategy for system design. It is not adequate to ensure data integrity. It is not conducive for efficient or even productive workflows.

We consult. We advise. We guide. We solve problems. We prevent problems. We write custom software. We are not saving kittens in trees nor fighting back floodwaters. "Just do something" may be the only available plan of action in an emergency, but it has no place in your business or ours.

There are several predictable drawbacks to "just do something":

• If I have to guess at what you need then we both will be disappointed in the result.
• This guarantees we will waste a good portion of the initial development time on something that doesn't meet your needs.
• The resulting code immediately becomes inefficient, brittle and harder to mainatain.
• The development costs for your system will increase with no benefit to you.

This doesn't mean that you're on your own when it comes to developing your requirements. We will have many conversations about what you need, what your pain points are, and what we are trying to accomplish. We'll discuss your short-term and long-term goals and expectations. But you need to help us help you.

Planning is important. Requirements matter. They are the foundation of your system's design. These are your needs and wants committed to writing. They are the goals of your new system and will be used to measure its success or failure, and ours.

Reviewing your current processes are critical. Dead horse alert: if you don't review your processes before defining your requirements, and implementing a new system, you are missing out on an invaluable opportunity.

"Just do something" encompasses none of these important mainstays of system design.

Recently I had a client withhold information critical to the overall definition and functionality of a project. They needed this project weeks ago. But, as usual for them, they did not act in their own best interest. After making me wait 10 days they finally provided the additional requirements. This new information changed about a third of the requirements and functionality of the project. And it ended up changing the primary focus and design of the user interface.

They said they waited because they wanted to see what I would come up with on my own. They never even saw my prototype. It focused on the wrong entity, which made perfect sense based on the information I had originally received. It was a swing and a miss based on the information they had withheld.

Crystal balls, tarot cards and ouija boards are for entertainment. Soothsayers and dowsers are ineffective. And let's face it, Carnac the Magnificent I'm not.

The best way to ensure that you get what you want and need is to tell me all about your business and your pain points. I'll ask, I promise. I'll ask about what works, and why. And I'll ask about the mistakes you've made in the past. The best way to ensure that you don't get what you want or need is to keep things to yourself.

Taking your wants and needs, and combining them with your knowledge about your business, is the only way to get a custom solution that improves your productivity and maximizes your return on investment. Crafting a solution takes time, and more importantly it takes good communication from everyone involved.

Remember that we don't know what you know. We don't know the ins and outs of your business. We aren't experts in your field like you are. We are experts at solving problems ... and saving the occasional kitten.

Knowledge and experience are always valuable. Share the wealth.

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