Aug 9, 2010 The Value of Good Tooling
At a very young age, I learned the value of leveraging the right tools for any job I started. I was 7 years old when I first heard the words "to do the right job, you need the right tools". My adopted grandfather said it to me, referring to the tractors and farm equipment he used to maintain and harvest his field of crops.
Early in my career, I remember getting frustrated with some of my employers when they were unwilling to procure and implement proper tooling. I never stuck around long enough to see the negative effects and the toll on productivity. Fortunately for me, I've spent the bulk of my career working for companies that appropriate adequate funding for the right tools.
I remember being invited to an impromptu meeting with the CFO at one of those companies. At the time, they were the 3rd most successful medical device manufacturer in the world. I had never met the CFO. Never passed him in the hallway, or bumped into him in the parking lot. We never ate lunch together, and we never meet at the water cooler. I of course knew who he was and his reputation certainly preceded him. I heard the stories of how many pennies he had saved the company each month and how merciless he could be. I even heard stories of how he would terminate employees who had made incorrect purchasing decisions for simple desktop tools. Me being the "tool guy" and being invited to his office... humm? (gulp). Needless to say, I didn't think this was a causal meeting to talk about my personal career development. I shut the door, started with some chit-chat and he quickly cut me off. The conversation went something like this:
CFO: Mr. Ward, sit down...
ME: Ok
CFO: I'm sure you're wondering why I called you for a meeting on such short notice?
ME: Actually, I thought you made a mistake and invited the wrong "Ward" (trying to add some levity)
CFO: Mr. Ward, I don't make mistakes. That's why I get this corner office and the fancy title.
ME: Understood (gulp)
CFO: I called you here to talk about this (holding up a piece of paper)
ME: (Silent with a puzzled look on my face)
CFO: Mr. Ward, why do I have an invoice in my hand that totals $750,000? And more importantly, why do I have zero recollection of this being discussed during the budget planning sessions earlier in the year? According to finance, you authorized this purchase. You do know corporate policy dictates that you receive Executive VP signature for purchases over $50,000 do you not? This is quite disturbing to say the least.
ME: Yes sir, I'm aware of that policy. However, the VP of my division was promoted to another location and we're currently without an executive sponsor. We require those tools for a very important company project. I've been assigned to this project as architect and I've selected these tools and vendors according to a detailed list of requirements that were gathered over a 4 month period across 14 sites worldwide. (Facts, just the facts.)
CFO: I don't care who was involved up until now. I need to be informed of all surprise expenditures like this well in advance so we can plan for them.
ME: Respectfully, I had submitted a 9-page justification letter to finance which was attached to that purchase. It included an itemized break out from the vendor. I also sat before the finance tools committee 2 months ago and prepared them for these costs.
CFO: (Silent with a puzzled look on his face)
ME: This is one of the most important projects in the history of this company and we need to help hedge our success of delivering it with accuracy and quality. I was taught at a very young age, that in order to do the right job, you need the right tools. I apologize for the surprise, but I stand by my decision to purchase these tools.
CFO: Alright (shaking his head slowly). I'd like to see that report on my desk in the next hour.
ME: Done!
I held firm, presented the facts (Joe Friday style), and you know what? It was the right decision. The tools enabled us to deliver success on that project.
This past week, almost 12 years since my meeting with that CFO, I was Firestorming with a very skilled team at Seagate. I was on-site evaluating their current Collaboration Platform built on Atlassian's Confluence Wiki, and I was absolutely blown away by the dedication and commitment that Seagate had taken surrounding their implementation. From the physical infrastructure, network and hardware - to the monitoring tools deployed ensuring that all aspects of the environment are traced and profiled, Seagate has clearly made the decision to do the right job, by leveraging the right tools!
Are you?
If the answer is no, here are some links to my favorite tools to get started:
- Confluence
- JIRA
- GreenHopper
- FishEye
- Crucible
- Bamboo
- Crowd
- Clover
- Balsamiq (related post)
- Gliffy (related post)
- Replay Solutions
Reader Comments (2)
MockupTiger? Once you use it you will fall in love!"