The customer isn't always right, but he does get an unnatural amount of slack. --
from a lapel button
The manager who would admit to not knowing what he's being counted on for -- Gahh!
What a sloppy phrase!
from a lapel button
The manager who would admit to not knowing what he's being counted on for -- Gahh!
What a sloppy phrase!
But there's no more elegant way to put it -- is a very rare bird. Yet
it's been your Curmudgeon's experience that on any given project, to understand half the
genuine needs of one's customer community at the outset is about the most one can
reasonably expect.
it's been your Curmudgeon's experience that on any given project, to understand half the
genuine needs of one's customer community at the outset is about the most one can
reasonably expect.
The reason is simple and inexorable: customers are unpredictable. That applies to intracompany
customers quite as much as to customers from outside, who arrive with cash in
hand. In the technology world, the customer often arrives not knowing the first thing
about the powers or limitations of the technology he hopes to exploit. Sometimes he has a
sense for the possibilities, but no grip on what he wants would cost, or how long it would
take to build. Sometimes his tastes and
demands change as
he becomes acquainted with
what your team can do. And most tragically, sometimes he's unable to communicate his
needs to you in a comprehensible fashion, whether because he's too close to them to see
them clearly, he's not articulate enough to bridge the gulf between his world and yours, or
he himself doesn't understand his needs.
what your team can do. And most tragically, sometimes he's unable to communicate his
needs to you in a comprehensible fashion, whether because he's too close to them to see
them clearly, he's not articulate enough to bridge the gulf between his world and yours, or
he himself doesn't understand his needs.
Educating himself in the customer's milieu is a manager's duty. If the manager can't speak
the customer's language, how on Earth can he hope to translate the customer's desires into
tasks for his development team? How can he explain to the customer why what he's
requested is impossible or prohibitively costly? If the manager can't grasp at least the
outline of the customer's problem space -- the area of his enterprise where he hopes your