In celebration of my wife's birthday, I figured I would make her a homemade birthday cake. I haven't done that since before we got married 5+ years ago. This time, however, I actually asked her what she wanted. That's right. The first birthday cake that I made for her, I didn't even ask what she would like. If you were the customer, wouldn't that kind of tick you off? Thanks for the cake but... I don't like that kind.
Getting input (and listening) to your customer goes a long way.
Sure, I could have ordered a cake from the local (and now famous) Charm City Cakes but she didn't ask for that. She wanted a chocolate cake with butter cream frosting. So, last night, our 4-year-old son and I made her a chocolate cake with butter cream frosting. We even cleaned up the mess after! But, it wasn't completely uneventful. All I can say is I'm glad there were well documented instructions.
Me: Are we a pair of knuckleheads or what? My son: I think we're a pair of clowns, Daddy.
Here is my Project Management Spin
- Find out what your customer wants.
- Deliver what your customer wants, not what you want.
- You'll spend more money if you want a chef to bake and decorate your cake.
- You'll save more time if you want a chef to bake and decorate your cake.
- Even a pair of clowns can bake and decorate a cake (if instructions are good).
- You should expect lower quality from a pair of clowns.
Product Delivery
- Both cake and frosting passed unit testing. (Mmmmmm)
- We did a little beta testing last night before the final build.
- The final build was successful.
- We delivered on time.
- We delivered below budget.
- The good news is, I'm pretty sure we'll pass user acceptance testing.