The Mindset

A few years ago, I tried to introduce a systematic code and design review process to the organization I worked for. For months, I repeatedly received the same answer: “We know this is a good idea, but our developers won’t like the idea of their code being read by their colleagues. And anyway, we really don’t have time for that”.

After months of nagging, I finally persuaded management to give it a try. And what do you know, most developers loved it! It didn’t happen overnight. But as time passed, more and more developers demanded to have their code reviewed. Even I was surprised. The only way to realize that was to try it.

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There are many books out there filled with great ideas. Books about management, software development, innovation, marketing, self-improvement — you name it. Sure, not every idea in every published book is a good idea, and not every idea is worth implementing. But many of them are.

So I find it puzzling that with so many great ideas the great majority of us are repeatedly ignoring most of them. We continue to work, create, and manage just as we did five, ten, or fifteen years ago. Sure, technologies have changed, tools have changed, and methodologies have changed, but the essence of what we do and the way we do it seems to have gone nowhere.

There may be some exceptions, but the fact is that everywhere you go you can find people working in almost the same mindset people have worked in ages ago.

I’m willing to bet most of you have read books like Peopleware, The Pragmatic Programmer, and The Mythical Man-Month. Now honestly, can you really say the organization you work for has adopted some of the insights, ideas, and concepts described in any of these books? If you can, you are one of the lucky few.

One of the reasons these books are so popular is that they touch the essence of our craft. They encompass numerous truths we can all relate to. When I first read Peopleware I couldn’t stop nodding my head in agreement. It was all so true that I kept asking myself how come this is not a common practice. So many people have read this book that you would think something had to change. And yet almost everywhere I go the same principles are being ignored over and over again.

It’s the “Yeah, but…” syndrome.

When reading some innovative idea that can help us improve the way we work, most of us instinctively react with: “Yeah, but…”. Most of us can find millions of reasons for not implementing any given idea. And they are all good reasons:

“Our business is different…”

“We have special needs…”

 “We already have a lot of experience with this…”

“Our people will never buy it…”

“We don’t want to rock the boat with such extreme changes…”

These are all serious considerations, and they should in no way be ignored. But unfortunately, many of us use them as excuses. Why? Because it’s always easier not to do something.

Now, I’m the first one to say that everything is context-sensitive. Each organization, each project, and sometimes even each developer, has special needs and constraints. No single solution can fit every business and every project. Clearly, no one can cover each and every variant of his idea in one single book. But you can still benefit from these ideas.

You might have to adapt the ideas you read about to your particular needs, but eventually there’s a good chance they will work for you. Only after trying to implement an idea in your own context, will you be able to say if it can be used as-is, if it requires some adaptation, or if it has to be rejected.

Does this mean you have to fully implement any new idea you come across? Of course not. First, you have to clearly phrase the problem you are trying to solve. Then, you have to consider whether the idea makes sense or not. Use your common sense and intuition, but don’t rule out the idea because you think your organization has special needs.

Many organizations think they have special needs, but reality is that our problems are not that unique. So the next step should be trying to implement the idea as a pilot in your organization. Use one project or one team. Try to adapt the idea as you go. Make sure you receive open and honest feedback. Only after such a pilot will you be able to consider whether this idea can work for you or not.

The “Yeah, but…” approach prevents us from reaching new levels of quality, productivity, and innovation. Don’t use it as an excuse for stopping change and preventing constant improvement. Instead, leverage it to customize ideas to suit to your needs.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 21st, 2006 at 7:07 am and is filed under Organizational Culture, Change, Feedback, Improvement, Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.