What's the Rush? An Ounce of Prevention Whatever It Takes Consistency Teamwork

An Ounce of Prevention

Any major change requires careful preparation.

If your company's staff spend 90% of the time in their word processor, then any change you make to that word processor will have a disproportionately enormous effect on them. For example, casually upgrading it, without first considering how the change will affect them, is folly. It's important to know, in advance, what problems the users are going to have on the morning after the upgrade. It's important to know, in advance, whether features they rely on have been altered into unrecognisability--or even discontinued altogether. Basically, it's important to be ready.

I prepare carefully before major changes. You might think that would make the whole process take longer, but it really doesn't. I just put the time in beforehand, rather than afterward. If I fail to prepare, that means that we spend the days and weeks following the change bouncing around from problem to unanticipated problem. The users are unhappy and unproductive, and we are stressed and pressured because we don't have quick solutions.

My brother-in-law Tom has a saying that is appropriate here: If you don't have time to do it right, where are you going to find time to do it over?

You can read more about how I put this philosophy into practice in real life.