Delivering Value #
All the hard work that you do may not be useful if that doesn’t help the team or the customer move the needle forward.
It is possible (indeed, all too common in the professional service sector) that the professional does substantively superior work but that this is not perceived by the client. Or, in another case, the professional may invest significant amounts of time and effort in dealing with unforeseen contingencies but, because the client did not expect the contingencies, he or she is irritated by the extra delay and expense rather than thankful for the abilities of the professional.
We understand the value of our work and deliver that. If, at any time, we believe that the work we do is not adding value, we will raise this issue with the team. Then, we will collaboratively decide what is the right thing to do. It is not our preferences but those of the client that should guide our way of work. This does not mean that we relax our standards but we meet, and exceed, our standards with client’s preferences. If that’s not possible, we communicate.
Technical excellence is ambiguous. We may build the best thing possible and do it right but if this strains the relationship with the client, there is no benefit to anybody. That is not “delivering value”.
SATISFACTION = PERCEPTION minus EXPECTATION
We must understand that customer satisfaction depends on what they perceive compared to what they expected. Notice that there is no mention of how good the thing itself is, but how it will be perceived. It is our job as engineers and professionals that we communicate the technical excellence so that they can perceive the benefits clearly.
Getting lost in the weeds #
It is easy to get lost in the weeds while working on an issue. This happens to such an extent that we forget the actual requirements that we need to deliver. This often looks like spending a lot of time perfecting something beyond what is necessary. Other times, we focus our attention on things that are only auxiliary to what we are building and ignoring the core value (bikeshedding).
Burnout #
We do not define productivity as an endless stream of work done at the expense of our health. Being productive means that you manage your time well so that you deliver value on the core requirements, ignore the fluff, and take care of yourself.