Care the Most

Photo by Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash

Software teams seem to operate like a factory. Requirements come in as raw materials and exit a finished good. The clear target is the shipping dock, and that’s where the influence of the factory ends. True to the metaphor, if you build products, your attention gravitates towards a single shipping date.

The entire product organization marches to this drumbeat. We are never getting enough out the door. We feel it. The pressure to deliver mounts. Timelines are tight. As we edge towards our arbitrary ship date, we begin throwing items off the boat. The cargo shrinks as we approach the shore.

In a world where shipping is the goal, who has time for polishing a feature, much less building an entire feature just to delight someone! After all, every incremental moment spent on one area means another is neglected. That’s no way to fill a shipping container. [1]

Counterintuitive as it may seem, that’s exactly what you need to do. You need to ignore the obnoxious obvious and focus on the subtle important. The team that takes the time to do less, well, will gain a special place in the heart of their users.

Not everyone will notice this little extra bit of love and some customers will still leave you for the competitor that does just a little more. But if you care the most, you will have something the others don’t — fans. These fans will root for you, create with you, and tell others about you. Fans are exactly what you need to succeed.

The next time you’re building a feature, ask if it will put a smile on the face of your users. If not, what can you do to change that? How could your utilitarian tool become a source of joy and inspiration? And if it can’t, maybe you’re working on the wrong thing. Find what matters to your user and focus on making that remarkable.

It takes a bit of practice, and yes precious time, but if we can’t put a bit more joy in the world while we work, what are we doing it for anyway?

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