Back in another universe, many lives ago, quality was an after-thought. The first time we would think about testing our deliverables was about a week, maybe two, before going âLIVEâ. Well, of course, it never worked. The solution options then became a choice of three pains. None better than the others, but one had to be chosen.
- Work like crazy to fix in time for the GO LIVE date
- GO LIVE with something that doesnât actually work
- Delay the GO LIVE date
None were appealing or very effective. Yet, this was the norm!
Why and how we as Project Managers were ever asked to do more projects, Iâll never know. I believe it was because of the pace. The sheer speed and enormous push to move on to the next thing was immense! There was no time to reflect, less time to learn anything, and only a modicum of time to remember some of the basics, usually towards the end, such as âOh ya, maybe we should test this before we GO LIVEâ⦠and repeatâ¦
My wish for this universe and this life is to actually have the time upfront at the beginning to do it right. Weâre always in such a rush to get things started and off the ground before we even understand what âitâ even is. Thereâs an old project management saying that goes âthereâs never enough time to do it right, but thereâs always enough time to do it againâ
So true, but why? Where does that time come from at the end? Why not create that time at the beginning and do it right the first time?
This is my crusade â Quality as a fore-thought!
Project Management methods galore implore us to do it this way, but the reality of working with senior management who want things done yesterday or in environments that are changing at unfathomable rates, can often be another story.
So to get the message out there, to turn the tide of âthis is how we always do thingsâ, to shake us into conscious living, Iâm leading the crusade. I hope you can join me!