Listen First

There is nothing more understated than the discipline to let people speak first while you listen intently; and then respond after comprehending. This is my new guiding principle, and I am enjoying the results of the clarity.

If you are building software to serve other people’s needs you must seek proper understanding of user requirements before you start building products. If you don’t do this then you find yourself in this unique position where the service you have built serves your needs and ignores its primary goals. You would have failed because you would have made so many assumptions along the way, thinking that whatever you are producing must be what your users need.

You know what else I have learnt? You need to ask questions just to make sure that you understand the requirements. The last few months of Covid have been quite game-changing. Many organizations that have had the capacity to have shifted their operations to employee homes. Working remote is not new to most people in software development and technology. In fact we thrive in it. This has meant that we have to pay extra attention to the details shared over video conference. It means if you fail to properly understand the basics then your next meeting may be one frustrating one as you toss away a week or weeks of work to re-engineer.

This experience does not serve you only at work. Generally paying attention to what people are saying before responding serves you the opportunity to understand people.