Q:  How can we challenge the mindset that “near enough is good enough?”. How can we change those who are happy to shortchange clients?

 Consider this scenario: 

Senior consultant:  ”we can’t tell our clients how to run their business”

 Junior consultant: “well if they want to do business with government department X and company Y, then they need to change how they do things”

Department X and Company Y want to start moving towards e-transactions from paper transactions. For success they need better, cleaner data.

By putting new processes in place & ensuring required mandatory data is validated in real-time at the right place there will be no rework.

What are your thoughts on how to handle this situation? Please share in the comment field below.

Shannon’s Response:

I’ve been thinking about this question for several days, as there’s actually more than one situation embedded in this. Personally it would be much easier for me to speak to this, than layout it out on the Internet as my comments or advice, simply because then we could address specifics rather than a broad general concept. But that’s not an option here.

So, let’s  first start with the “we can’t tell our clients how to run their business” comment.

Depending on the situation that is true – while your client may hire you to give them advice and implement solutions, they are ultimately responsible for their business and their business decison making, and they will take whatever advice they wish to and leave the rest behind.

However, we can make suggestions.

“You might consider…”

“To cut down on … it would help to…”

Even if the client agrees with you, there’s many different reasons why a client won’t take your advice,  including:

• No power to make the decision for change
• Not enough resources (time, money, people) to make it happen (or the perception they don’t have the resources)
• Already overwhelmed with too much on their plate
• Can’t get buy-in from the other business areas that would be affected.
• It would distract from the current goals/direction in place
• The perceived costs outweigh the perceived benefits
• Doesn’t know how to go about making it happen

 And the list could go on. Most competent IT professionals have more than enough work on their plate as it is, and adding in another suggestion, even one they agree with, causes stress, so you get a variety of reactions.

The trick is to  bring the client to the point where the proposed course of action is seriously considered as a possible solution. But in order for this to happen, you need to be sure that the solution is really right for the business, and then, if you still think it is a good solution for the business, start the process of “planting seeds”.

This process of planting seeds is one of identifying real issues that your proposed solution would solve, and bringing them gently to the forefront of the client’s mind.

There’s several techniques for doing this, and it really depends on the person, the relationship you have with them, the company’s culture, and how much work the person already has on their plate.

But if your “seeds” grow, then suggestions can be made, and ultimately you can go about laying out the business case for dealing with the issue, with suggestions of how to go about doing this.

But in order to get this far, your client needs to be open to it, they need to trust you and respect your expertise to some extent. And that’s something that is developed over the course of a working relationship.

Does this make sense?

It’s not really about forcing the client to do what you want or coercing them there, but giving them a course of action that will clearly benefit them (and outweigh the costs/investment of time, money, and people) and letting them make that decision based on your advice, because they respect and trust you, and because they have independently come to the conclusion it is the best choice for the business at that moment in time.

Next, let me address some very specific points in your scenario: cleaner data & changing processes. As an IT professional, those two terms immediately make me cringe – because I associate them with a LOT of work. And I’m willing to bet I’m not the only IT person out there who has this reaction.

I agree with having better, cleaner data, and personally have spent more hours than I care to dealing with the consequences of data issues. But when proposing something like cleaning up data, the perception is – lots of time, lots of tedious detailed work (which most people aren’t suited for), and lots of room for error.  And in a regulated industry like health care and accounting – anything that messes with the integrity of the data is dangerous. 

So, when proposing something like cleaner, better data, it’s important to understand that you have to overcome perception issues, based on past expereinces – or if you are working with someone who has never done it before, they won’t know where to even start.

So it may be necessary to lead the client down the path of understanding not only the benefits of cleaning up their data (if it really makes sense from a cost/benefit scenario) but also how they can get it done in a reasonable, cost effective way with the least amount of headaches.

On the concept of changing processes. Often it is necessary to change processes to get good quality data. And validating in real-time is incredibly useful. But validation reguires putting business rules in place, and often building out tables, which all requires more resources from within the business. And it all requires that word – CHANGE.

People react interestingly to change, even change they agree with and want. There’s still an emotional process that happens with change, with getting outside what is known and comfortable.

So while what you are proposing is needed, should be considered, and probably should be suggested, it’s important to understand that these are perceptions and reactions that your message has to wade through before it can even begin to be accepted, much less acted upon.

Some consultants have hit that wall enough times that they simply don’t pursue it, and adopt that “we can’t tell them how to run their business” attitude. And depending on the situation, that may just be their way of dealing with all the communication barriers that stand in the way of proposing changes.

But, you can overcome these barriers, with trust, respect, and by anticipating the issues before laying out the solution.

So, back to the first two questions, “How can we challenge the mindset that “near enough is good enough?” How can we change those who are happy to shortchange clients?”

The reality is that we can not change other people, only ourselves. However, we can set the example, find solutions that others might not think of, and do our best to serve our own clients. By striving for excellence ourselves, we indirectly raise the bar for others.  If they choose not to reach and stretch to give their best for their clients, then that’s their decision, as frustating as it may be.

The reality is that only person you can change is yourself, and you will choose to relax your standards or continue to strive for excellence. If you strive for excellence, keep the best interests of your client’s in mind, and work to meet your client’s need, then you – and your opportunities - will continue to grow.

As far as the “near enough is good enough“, there is a need to accept that perfection is not always possible. No software, no tool, no piece of technology would ever be released if we waited for perfection. Rarely would business be done. Yet those of us who are perfectionists (yes, me included), struggle with this concept. There is a point of accepting that this will get the job done, it meets the needs, and we can always tweak it later. 

Now I’m not suggesting we should put out bad, or buggy, work. We should strive to put out quality products, quality services, to the best of our ability and resources, and should always strive to meet our customer’s needs to the best of our ability. But we also need to accept that perfection is not the goal, as it is rarely possible to meet market demand and be perfect.

So lots of thoughts and perspective there. I expect you’ll take what you like and leave the rest behind. Hopefully something here helped your situation.

Thank you much for the question.

…Shannon

P.S. Agree? Disagree? Any thoughts, comments, additional insights that would help this reader and others in a similar situation? Please them in the comments field. Thanks!