One of the ways I think I’m different from normal techy people is that I have a strong drive to get things done regardless of any roadblocks. I see many techy people that want to explain how difficult something is, the risks involved, and how that something is out of scope from the rest of the project. That’s all important but if your goal is to ship a high quality product that reflects well upon you, which is my goal, then they don’t matter. If your goal is to make money then the “out of scope” part my be necessary but I’d argue not. We follow this philosophy at our company so we’re testing it in the real world.
We’ve been burnt a few times – greatly underestimating the scope of work which lowered my effective bill rate – by this philosophy because I don’t like saying no to ideas that will make the product better. I’m happy to say “this should be in phase 2” if appropriate but many times the product needs this feature at launch and we know it.
Despite being burnt, I strongly believe in my philosophy. It results in better products which reflect back on us, happy clients who don’t have to fight with someone about scope all the time, and a trusting work relationship with others who know “they’ll get it done and get it done right.”