Let me get this straight…

The most valuable half hour of my life occurred between four cubicles in the Plano, TX headquarters of EDS, one of our clients. Not in a big conference room somewhere, not at some big meeting. Instead, actually sitting with a group of people who actually used our product.

Our client had sent down a request for an enhancement. Specifically, we had been asked to add several columns to a web based report. Seems like a simple enough request. And it was. It probably would have taken all of about an hour to finish. But I didn’t do it. Why? Because I didn’t get it. More columns on an already ridiculously complicated report? Why would you want to do such a thing? So, instead of giving them what they asked for, I asked for a meeting. I asked them to show me what they were going to do with this report. They said that I could come up and talk to them. So I did. And what I heard amazed me…

“I run the search with these parameters [the guy who managed three other people identfied three dropdowns on the screen]. Then I use this button here to export the data to excel. I then sort the results by this column. Then, I copy each of the sections ["sections" were groups of telecom vendors assigned to an individual to manage] to a separate tab on the spreadsheet. Then I email everyone on the team the entire spreadsheet to work their own sections”. Wow, at this point my head was already spinning at how poor a job we had done helping them solve their real problem.

I then went over to one of his staff members. She took me through the rest of it: “I take my section, and copy the first circuit ID [one of the fields in the Excel file]. Then I paste it into the search screen [the search screen of the S3 application]. Then I need to click into that record, get to the detail and look at these five fields [several fields spread around the two hundred or so total fields]. depending on what those fields say, I need to change these six fields. So this is why we need the extra fields on the extract – so we don’t have to click into the detail of each record“. I was shocked. And there was more after that too. Yes, it was more centralized than their previous solution, but it sure as hell wasn’t easier or faster.

So I asked – “how long does all this take you” “oh, about two weeks each month”. “for each of the four of you?” “yes, approximately”. To me, it was obvious what we needed to do.

We created a set of reports and workflows called “CDI Gold”. The manager only had to set up the mappings from vendor to employee once. Everyone else was automatically presented with a list of the records that met the necessary criteria when they logged on, and it only showed them the fields they needed to see. From there, they could select one of three options, which automatically set the six fields (except one field for one of the options, which required a comment). And that handled everything they needed done.

How long did the new process take? By noon on the first business day of the subsequent months, the job was done. by just figuring out exactly what they really needed, I was able to reduce their workload from 160 man-hours to 16. a 10x improvement.

This is why S3′s tagline is Challenge Everything. Our software exists to solve problems. We are not programmers for hire, who simply implement a system that has been requested, without knowing or caring what it’s for. We will push our clients to their real needs, and we expect and welcome push back on us. This is something I am dead serious about. One of my clients was once praising one of my employees, and told me that he was a better “yes man” than I was – that he listend to the requirements better than I did. He said that sometimes the Challenge Everything is frustrating to the client. I subsequently reprimanded that employee. And the client? Well, he challenged me. And I respect that more than anything. He is a still a strong supporter of ours. But S3 is about solving real and valuable problems. Yes men need not apply.

Don’t expect us to do something without asking why. And you can damn well expect a better result because of it.