Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

When confronted with a difficult situation with a difficult customer, it is often better to step back and ask a few fundamental questions.

The setting: I am a developer. I am building a system for a customer. The work is going poorly. We seem to make progress on some days, but most of the time we restart the work with great angst.

Let’s ask a couple of questions so that we can then ask better questions and possible work our way into a better situation.

1. Are we discussing the developer’s problems or the customer’s problems?
2. Are we discussing the problems or the symptoms of the problems?

The first question: My customer is not me. I cannot say, “My customer’s problems are my problems.” No, they aren’t. I can say that to try to establish a relationship with my customer, but it is not a true statement. We are different persons, we have different problems.

The second question: This one often confuses me. For example, “My problem is that I’m not getting enough sleep.” That is not a problem; it is a symptom. What is causing me to not sleep at night? The answer to that will point me closer to the actual problem.

Here is the summary advice. When I’ve been in these situations I hated hearing this advice because it caused me to think. Instead, I wanted quick, miraculous solutions. Too bad as quick, miraculous solutions rarely exist. Instead:

Get questions (1) and (2) straight, and then talk, but not before.