Is it *done*?
A conversation that needs to happen
Customer: Is my engine done yet?
Mechanic: Yes
C: Great, then I’m gonna drive home
M: The engine is done, but it’s still not back in the car
C: But you said it was done
M: Yeah, but not “done done”
Raise your hand if you’ve had similar interaction when working in tech.
(but usually with a feedback loop of days or weeks, and maybe some awkward situations with customers or investors).
What often follows is an argument of what “done” means. And sometimes it’s fruitful. But other times it isn’t.
What’s the problem?
From a manager’s perspective:
1) You ask if someone is done
2) They say yes
3) But the feature they are working on isn’t actually on a server yet, and you can’t interact with it
After reading this you’ll know:
1) How to ask better questions
2) Why simply defining done isn’t enough
3) Why you don’t have to ever ask if something is done