OutsourceSurvival.com

This is a brief discussion on controlling change within a live outsourcing project; in particular, ‘reducing scope’, or removing or simplifying functionality. This was a topic I was completely unfamiliar with when I first got into using freelancers. Over the course of a 12 month project, small uncontrolled compromises compounded each other, and in the end ‘broke’ many of the business objectives. Expensive rework, flawed functionality and a system that didn’t work as expected were the price I paid for inexperience.

On a smaller project, a few corners cut here and there may seem like no big deal, and sometimes they aren’t. On larger projects (starting at several $K), or projects that extend over longer periods of time (weeks/months) small reductions in functionality or simplifications of requirements can really start to have a negative impact on your finished product.

Why would you want to cut corners?
You’ve done your plan, you’ve worked out what you need, you’ve found a freelancer who has agreed to do the work. The obvious question is why would you want to cut anything out? Well from my experience, once a project (software in particular) gets underway a couple of things happen that will force your hand.

Your outsourcer for the first time actually takes a good look at your requirements. If you’re not careful, up until this point they’ll have been giving your requirements lip service. It seems totally crazy to agree to a project that isn’t understood… but that’s the way many do it. They’ll have been focussed on the sales effort, and will have committed only very limited resources to actually understanding your requirements. Now all of a sudden they’re responsible for building it and payday is guaranteed… all they need to ensure is that they can turn a profit on it. Read the rest of this entry

In a recent post on  Entrepreneur’s Journey blog, Yaro has an interesting discussion on being a successful entrepreneur. To (crudely) summarise the post, his point is that to be happy and successful you need to have positive patterns of behaviour. Do what you know you should be doing, and positively reinforce that behaviour (think positively about the actions you’ve taken). Check out the link to read it in full.

I read this post and it struck a cord. This is a battle I am currently waging, and one that I am winning for the first time in my life. I used to believe that fixing my behaviour would make me more successful. However, I now believe that behaviour is a symptom, not a cause. If you are struggling to fix your behaviour, you are probably focusing on the symptom and aggravating the cause.

Ok, so what does this have to do with outsourcing?

Both a lot and nothing Like many entrepreneurs I have a… shall we say ‘peaky’ personality. I experience high-energy high-productivity highs, and low-energy, low-productivity lows. For the last 6 months I’ve taken the conscious effort to ’smooth’ this out, by being more disciplined in how I think about things; in particular problems and challenges. I’m not bi-polar, but I’ve discovered that I do have some thought processes that promote ineffective behaviour.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a fluffy-wuffy touchy-feely kinda guy.

I am a big fan on the power of being positive, but I’m not into new age fluff. However, I recognise that I struggle to sustain ‘positivity’ and am prone to fall off the wagon. As part of a long search for a solution, I picked up a book called Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life written by a renowned psychologist Martin Seligman.

Without sounding like a vegetable-kissing-tree-hugging-hippy, this book has dramatically improved my life. It will help you understand your cognitive thought processes- it is not fluffy, and will not have you chanting-positivity or star jumping at dawn. It does give you a great set of tools to apply discipline to your thoughts. Read the rest of this entry