Customer & Outcome Centric Focus

Of late, few thoughts have been lingering in my mind ... this one is top of my mind ...

Let me start by posing a QUESTION:

When you place an order on any online retailer (like Amazon), your expectation is that they deliver the package to your front-door the very next day before a certain time - is that correct ???

Do you ever think about what technology they use or what vehicle they drove (be it Electric, Gas, or Diesel) to drop off the package at your front-door ???

We don't really care about any of that. All we care is that the package is delivered to our front-door within the indicated delivery time and in the best possible condition.

By the way, what has this got to do with this article - you may ask ??? It is simple. It is all about - the CUSTOMER and the OUTCOME - nothing more nothing less - PERIOD !!!

Have been long around the block in my career to be part of many projects and programs and one interesting aspect pops-up quite too often ... We tend to lose focus on the OUTCOMEs and needs of the CUSTOMER. We are so focused on the ivory tower architectural purism and the use of the latest and greatest technologies.

Does the CUSTOMER ever care about any of these ??? They don't give a HOOT !!! All they care about is the usability, the reliability, and the predictability of the offering - THATS IT !!!

Don't get me wrong - we need to use a modular, maintainable, and extensible approach, yet strike the right balance. We need to be CAREFUL not to get too entangled in the weeds in pursuit of perfection.

Another corollary that goes hand-in-hand with this pitfall is 'to eat the elephant in a single bite'. The only way one can eat the elephant is - one chunk at a time. What do we mean by this ??? One cannot tackle the needs of a CUSTOMER in one fell swoop - it has to be solved in increments. In other words, address the needs of the customer in chunks so that they start to realize the benefits immediately in an incremental fashion.

The point want to get across - we need to be pragmatic, FOCUS on the needs of the CUSTOMER, and achieve optimal OUTCOMEs in quick successions versus wasting too much time debating on being pure and perfect. Technologies come and go - what is new today is old tomorrow. The only constant in life is CHANGE. We need to quickly adapt and move forward.

Look around us in Nature - nothing is perfect, yet there is perfect balance and harmony. Reminds me of one of the famous quote by Alice Walker:

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful.