Looking Back - A Few Thoughts

Looking Back - A Few Thoughts

Aniruddha Sarkar

28 September 2023 (edited on 12 October 2024)

#lookback #think #reflect #assess #review #takestock #decide #go #nogo #course #correction #donothurry #resist #timepressure

#01

There is a common phrase frequently uttered within the four corners of the working halls:

Hey Guys, hurry up. We don't have time.

Yes. We have a little time to work. We also know why.

In many situations, we rework a few things to improve the product.

On a few occasions, however, we may rework without any good reason.

Why do we rework without any good reason?

Sometimes, under time pressure, we may repeat known mistakes on the same issues. We may skip the time-tested practices, standards and procedures.

This may happen when we often forget to look back and reflect.

#02

Here is a crude example from the kitchen. Say, we are pouring edible vegetable oil from a large five-litre jar into a small bottle.

We all know the time-tested approach of using a funnel to pour the liquid oil gradually from a bigger jar into a smaller bottle as much as it can safely accommodate.

On the contrary, while in a hurry, we may try to pour it directly, and, may spill over oil. That may result in wastage. That may trigger extra work to clean the floor, etc.

Had we been looking back, we would have used the age-old prudence of using the funnel.

#03

One may argue, that if you are efficient, you should do things correctly on the very first attempt, all the time.

Yes, of course. However, we need to achieve that level of efficiency over some time on mostly repetitive kinds of work. Such tasks have little or no ambiguities.

Now, what happens when we are designing something new, say, a piece of software, that needs to perform correctly all the time?

We need to follow a software development methodology.

Here again, first, we need to understand the customer's requirements correctly.

Here is a task that is full of ambiguities. At the customer end, the perceptions may differ from person to person. There may not be a single person, who can tell the complete requirements. With time, requirements may keep on changing. There may be a radical shift in business patterns at the customer end, due to mergers, acquisitions, etc.

There are methodologies, where, with a few not-so-clear understanding of requirements, we may still proceed with a prototype, and, over some time, we keep adding finer touches to build a perfect product.

In such cases, we may look back and rework several passes to improve the prototype bit by bit.

And, at the end of every pass, we reflect, critically review the product, and take stock.

#04

Looking back and taking stock is a fundamental requirement for the business environment.

Small businesses have to survive in the turbulent pricing regime. They take stock of their daily progressive sales on an hourly basis and may decide to adjust prices dynamically. It's a dog-eat-dog environment. The fittest of the lot only survives.

#05

Now, let us shift the focus to our personal life.

There are a few extremely busy people who do not have time to reflect. They rush all through the hours, days, months, and years.

They always enjoy their busyness.

Yes, they all are busy. They all have targets to achieve. They all have a few important milestones to touch.

We often find these groups of people rushing behind some difficult targets.

Then, one day, they may realize that a few targets were not the right kind of targets they should have pursued.

They may also discover that their inner voice rang the warning bells to stand and stare back, for a while.

Their inner voice told them to think of a course correction.

They ignored those signals.

They may also realize later that by not responding to their inner voice at a certain point in time, they ignored their in-built prudence.

At crucial moments in their life, while in a hurry, they repeatedly failed to do this: -

To look back for a while, reflect, and then take a prudent go-no-go decision.

#06

Looking back helps us to do course corrections, as may be needed, from time to time.

I am not in favour of hurrying things to merely meet a deadline.

Such deadlines, in most cases, may turn out to be the proverbial mirage in the desert.

Dear Reader, please share your thoughts.

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