Don't Panic

One of my favorite books (really a series) was written by Douglas Adams, recently departed.  Adams had an oddball sense of humor, mostly dry English wit combined with the heart of a science fiction writer.  With that mix, what's not to like?  If you've never read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I'd strongly recommend it.

Adams believed that one of the most important things to learn when hitchhiking through the galaxy is - Don't panic.  I suspect the advice is probably very useful here on earth as well.

I was thinking about this after a recent, less than successful project launch.  For various reasons, too many to go into here, we released some code for a customer before it was ready.  This caused a few problems.  Of course, any problem is bad enough, but compound that with a month end and you have the possibility of severe problem.

After a few sour moments, we recognized we needed to fix the problems and get our customer where they needed to be.  First things first - Don't Panic.

Second, determine what's wrong without placing "blame" .  We can determine the blame later - right now we need to prioritize the issues and fix the important problems.

Third, evaluate the alternatives to get the problems resolved.  In our case we created some simple short term fixes which would carry our customer through until we could resolve the problems permanently.

Fourth, be honest, be direct and let the customer know what's happening, our commitment and what we're going to do.  Be clear, direct, accept the responsibility and provide a specific plan which shows your customer your commitment and timeframe.

Now, if this sounds sort of formulaic, it is.  This is the same approach your mom forced on you when she found out you broke the neighbor's window playing ball in their yard.  Tried but true as they say.  Anyway, a process and a formula is exactly what you want to turn to in this situation.  In fact, it is the exact opposite of what will happen many times - panic, followed by a maelstrom of activity that gets you nowhere.

If you work on big projects (and who doesn't nowadays?) I suggest placing a small glass box on the wall in your project room.  Label it - "In case of emergency, break glass".  Inside are two documents.  The first, in large letters reads - Don't Panic.  The second contains the methodology or formula you'd use to resolve a problem - possibly the one I've outlined above.

Comments

[guile]

nice, cozy place you got here :)..