Signature: A Different View

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November 2003	A Different View
Return Home Contact Gail	Balancing Quality and Speed By Gail Van Landingham "How do you balance quality and speed?" I asked one of my favorite engineers a few years back. I know, it sounds like the old software development mantra: "good, fast, cheap—pick two." But I really wanted to know if this wise colleague thought it was possible to create a good product and do it fast without a magic spell. He smiled, shook his head, and asked me not to share his comments with anyone else in the company. This is what he said. The goal is progress, not perfection Accept the fact you'll never be able to do a project as well as you'd like to and that your project will never be finished because there's always another release right behind it. Find a balance between taking forever (because it is never good enough) and releasing a project regardless of its condition. Remember that perfection is the enemy of completion. You are working for a company, not yourself—plan accordingly A company's idea of quality may not be the same as yours. So carefully measure every feature, every bug fix, every documentation change you propose against these "golden rules": Will it increase company sales? Does its value outweigh the cost to the company? Will it help keep customers satisfied enough to buy again? (I didn't say "happy.") You were hired to help make sales, keep customers, and minimize costs. Time spent on anything other than these activities is probably something only you will appreciate. It may not be in the best interest of the company. In other words, striving to make a perfect or "best in class" product is often not the best business choice. However, distinguish this from providing features or solutions nobody else has, which could substantially increase sales. A company always has more work than you can do—prioritize and work accordingly. When you have a good work ethic and you want high quality, you can only do so much. And when you find yourself stretched too thin, and you don't think you can get it all done, talk to your manager. Ask her to prioritize your assignments, then do just what is required if you can't get to it all. In the face of huge workloads, the answer is not to work harder and harder and harder. You'll burn out, and then we all lose. Don't take the time-versus-quality question too seriously. You have a life outside of work—put some time and quality into it. My engineer colleague shared these words with me two years ago. The company where we worked has since gone out of business. And he has moved out of town. So I thought he shouldn't mind if I shared his comments with you now.
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