Siliconchef by Brian Richardson
I very rarely blog about work. Even if I do, I do so in general terms … meaning I don’t discuss specific customers, projects or people. While the government has a constitutional obligation to respect my rights to free speech, I make no such assumption about a private employer and customers that expect me to honor various non-disclosure agreements.
This entry isn’t specifically about work, it’s about the philosophy of how I work.
I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regards to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. I get paid. And that’s all.
Malcolm Reynolds, “Firefly”
For me, it’s all about making a good product & making the customer happy. Making my co-workers like me is pretty far down on the list. There are many people in this building that I do not personally like, but are the right people for the job. There are also people here that I get along with well that should not be working on the product, or for that matter working here … they just don’t have the skills to pay the bills.
Despite the obvious influence of office politics, I prefer to do my job first & make friends later. I don’t come to work to make friends, I go to parties to make friends. I consider it a bonus that I get a long with a vast majority of the people I work with, both in the office and at the customer site … it’s one of the intangible benefits that has kept me here for over nine years.
The small size of the company puts me extremely close to the CEO, probably closer that we both like. We don’t agree on everything the company does, and I have this habit of informing him when I see a problem. It doesn’t matter that much that people don’t want to hear what I say about the product, but it matters that they consider it when they work on the product.
Here’s my basic view … no product, no profit … no profit, no job … no job, no 5.86 acre farm in Loganville. Brian likes to eat. Specifically, Brian likes to cook over his gas-burner range top and prepare food on his quartz counter tops in his 2,200 square foot home before retiring for the evening to watch movies on his 55″ television and check e-mail from the couch via a 802.11b/g router connected to a whole-house network.
These things do not grow on trees … if they did I would have paid better attention in biology class.
These things require money. Money requires customers willing to pay my employer for it’s products. Products require development in-line with the customer needs. Development requires feedback. Feedback often requires people to be told they’re way off track and need to change course, or that a specification is required so we can see what the product will contain.
My job is to be a technical bridge between customers & developers. Customers tell me what they want, I relay it to the developers. If a customer wants a delivery date, I ask developers for a schedule. If a customer wants to know what the product does, I ask developers for a specification.
Developers do not always return the favor, making it difficult for me to give meaningful answers to the customer. This results in telling people we’re not meeting customer needs and need to change course to keep them away from the competitors.
It’s not fun, but it is required to do the job. I don’t like making managers, directors & chief executive officers mad … but I like having a product that people want to buy. You can be irritated at me now, but listen and you might have customers later.
I do the job. I get paid. And that’s all.
