The Three Ps
Most software companies define success in a number of common (and predictable) ways: They develop and deliver software specifically for their intended users. They possess a deep understanding of their customers’ needs and experiences. They ensure their software enhances business value and has quantifiable ROI. They establish roles and responsibilities with their customers during implementations. They define and achieve clear project objectives, including development cycles, milestones, and release plans. They count their numbers of users. They measure the satisfaction of their users, largely by staying within project scopes and budgets, completing project tasks on time, meeting milestones, and fulfilling specified requirements.
But we don’t consider ourselves to be common. And the only thing we want to be predictable around here is our reliability.
We’re Different
While predicability does start with p, it’s not one of the Three Ps we’re talking about. We’re talking about the Three Ps on which we built our company and by which we established our reputation.
Those Three Ps are, in this order:
- People. We’re not aware of any software organizations that have been built with code. Software is built with code. Organizations are built with people who love what they do, who are dedicated to the success of their teammates, and who are passionate about the satisfaction of their customers.
- Process. We don’t think of process as formula. We think of it as ever-evolving. We don’t think of best practices. We’re constantly in search of better practices. And we don’t dictate processes to our people. We encourage them to find them — to try, to experiment, to fail on occasion, to learn from their failures, and to improve their skills and their performance.
- Product. We’re very proud of our product. But it doesn’t constitute laurels on which to rest. Rather, the functional capabilities of our product are benchmarks: If we can do this today, with the ingenuity of our people and the input from our customers, we’ll do that tomorrow. That’s the way in which people and process always inform and improve our product.
It’s About Priorities
We didn’t count priorities as a fourth p. We could have because we learned a long time ago we become what we count. That’s why we count our most valuable assets. And our most valuable assets are our people. We wouldn’t have a process or a product without them.
What do you count?
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