Having a Problem? Don’t Run!

May 15, 2014

A while back, I remember a classmate and I having a discussion about a project we were working on. A paraphrase of the conversation is shown below:

Me: “When I ran a couple tests, it looks like there will be some problems that should be addressed before the project is tested by the professor.”

Classmate: “Eh, we will fix the issues as they come up, but if the professor never says anything, then why fix it?”

Me: “..because it is something that could cause problems for the client? Isn’t the whole point of creating this project is for the client?”

Classmate: “..and give us more work? Fix the issues if they are addressed from people besides us. Otherwise, we will say we are done.”

That was pretty frustrating to me to hear this mentality of “let’s do the least work possible so that we’re done” instead of addressing what was wrong in order to make the project better. Turned out that the professor caught all of the problems I saw. Since I went ahead and started fixing those problems on my own, we were able to fix them rather quickly.

Have you ever dealt with people like that? The mentality of “we will work around the problem, but not actually address it” or “don’t address it unless someone else does”? For me, it is very frustrating to say the least.

Does this happen in the tech world? The answer is…ALL THE TIME. It happens from the smallest of technology shops to the largest of corporations. Take a look at Microsoft for example. A lot of their updates of the Windows Operating System are from bugs that were reported by others instead of their own testing. I can’t say that they knew about these things, but in my eyes, it really makes you wonder.

If you are intertwined in a situation where people want to work around the problems, be sure you are the one to face those problems head-on and fix them. You may not be liked for going against the grain a bit, but the quality of what you do will show one way or another, whether it is a promotion at your current job, acknowledgement from your friends and family, or even a better job that has noticed your accomplishments. Don’t become lazy!

That’s all for now, until next time…keep that tech gear ticking.

~Goliath7470