Let me get this straight…

It’s ok – you don’t have to get out your recording devices, I’ve written it down, on the internet, so it must be true. I know hearing me say I’m wrong is a rarity – I tend to be a tad less humble than that. But I think it’s important to highlight the fact that while I sit here and criticize things, I’m always learning. So yes, here I am, admitting that there are times in my life when I have made the wrong decision.

Recently, during a deployment that we did for a customer, I was somewhat involved in the requirements. Admittedly not as early as I would have liked, but reasonably early none-the-less. I spent hours meeting with the customer, going over what they wanted, and how we would implement it. We went over requirements, had some heated disagreements, and finally ended up with a set of requirements for our first go around. I brought it back to S3, and communicated everything to the Fight Club members who would be working on it. Three weeks later, I went to visit the client ready to demo a perfect, error free product that we had agreed as the first iteration. I pulled up the first screen. within minutes, I was asked “Where’s the rest of it?” No problem, I’m used to handling such questions. So I continue with “Well, if you recall, we agreed that this would be the first, fast release”. Well, needless to say, I was wrong. I completely missed the boat. We ultimately worked out the solution, and got a new schedule down for the complete roll out, which, I’m pleased to say, was a boring success. I would have preferred our SPS method of rolling out a single feature at a time. Because of this occurrence, I’ve learned better how to approach this in the future. But this time I was wrong.

Another big failure I’ve managed was pissing off a VP of one of our financial services clients. Software is designed to make people’s job’s easier. As you’ll see from the comments on my post about the most valuable half hour of my life, One of the unfortunate side-effects of this fact is that sometimes, it makes their job so much easier that their job is no longer required. Several years ago, I was young, brash, and completely unconcerned about such trivialities as other people’s feelings. On the day in question, I marched into the office of the boss of our primary supporter at this client. As usual, I asked questions, inquired, and found inefficiencies. I proudly stated that with our assistance, he could lay off half of his workforce. I am told that it is just a coincidence that they are the only client of ours who has left who didn’t happen to be implicated in a $50B Ponzi Scheme. But let’s be honest – my arrogance will never let me think that it was just a coincidence. Thank goodness we have such good people working here, because we’re finally managing to get them back as a client.

I have made other mistakes. I have made other bad decisions. Sometimes I address the mistake head on, and try to unravel the mess I’ve made. Sometimes, I just walk away. But no matter what wrong I have done, I learn. And that is a quality I look for at S3. Make mistakes. Please. Because if you don’t make mistakes, you’re not trying anything new. Don’t be afraid to make a bad decision. Big, or little, make a decision, whether it be the decision to quit your job and start a company, or the decision to take the bus. Many mistakes can be fixed – I have seen mistakes fixed many years after I made them. But if you don’t try anything new, don’t make a decision, don’t make mistakes, then you languish, and never grow. Try something new. Make a decision. Make a mistake. And, in the end, you will be a happier person because of it.