Doing it Right vs. Getting it Done
Some companies fail to understand that “doing it right” and “getting it done” does not necessarily coincide when developing a product and/or service. I subscribe to doing both yet place an emphasis on doing it right. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with my outlook.
There are companies whose primary focus is on getting it done and pushing the product/service out the consumer as fast as possible. While getting it done has a stronger emphasis than doing it right for some small Web 2.0 companies, this is not the model larger sized corporations should follow. When you have pushy bosses stressing employees to get it done vs. doing it right, then it can create sub-par quality products/services that impact and turn off customers. Here’s a case study.
XYZ Company is a large corporation who hired an entire floor of contractors to design and deploy an entirely new solution for a system built off the foundations of an old solution. While the contractors consulted with the architects of the old solution, they (contractors) did not keep them in the loop when designing the new system. Because there was a hard deadline to have the new solution put in place, XYZ Company pushed the “get it done” concept on the contractors. This line was pushed so hard over several months that a stable, quality system was not designed and implemented. This affected many customers who in turn flooded the customer support lines to complain about the service. Once the contractors left XYZ Company, the system was under maintenance and support from the fulltime employees. Unfortunately, the fulltime employees were not included on the design and development phases of the system and had a steep learning curve in order to learn the system. Unable to solve problems as quickly because of a lack of knowledge transfer, it resulted in more frequent customer complaints about the service to the point where XYZ Company suffered a loss in confidence by the customer. It also resulted in the loss of a contract, which brought in the majority of revenues. Because the system designed was overly complicated and required constant fixes, XYZ Company had to hire a new team of contractors to try and figure out how the system was designed in order to make it run more efficiently. While many of the development staff urged a redesign of the new system, the top decision makers ignored their recommendations, resulting in even more strained relationships with their customer. Because XYZ Company focused on getting it done instead of doing it right, many of its customers lost confidence in the company’s ability to deliver the solutions promised. XYZ Company experienced a major hit in its reputation to deliver quality products/services, and it’s refusal to do it right may affect future revenues.
Losing focus of “doing it right” can cause a company to decline and/or break the company. You don’t need to look any further than Yahoo (possibly breaking and definitely in a decline state) and Microsoft (in a decline and decaying state) for examples. Therefore, while getting it done is important, keep in mind that doing it right should have a higher priority.