Values
Bronislav Klučka on Feb 16, 2025
Why do you do what you do? What motivates you to go to work? What drives your decisions? What is your professional purpose?
tl;dr - it's not the money.
Like food, money is essential. We need it to survive. We want to eat as much as we need and enjoy good food. Sometimes, we even want to indulge. However, our purpose is not to eat. Our value shouldn't be "food, more food”.
Money is fuel. It's very important for getting somewhere, but it's not the destination itself.
I firmly believe that other values are more important than money. These values create a better, more sustainable business while actually making money.
These values are: customer, team and quality; and they go hand in hand.
Much can be said about these values - books have been written - but let me point out a few things.
Customer
Your business should be centered around the customer. Everything should be built around them. After all, the customer is the one who pays. Your mission should be to help the customer succeed, avoid obstacles, and have a better day.
Customers aren't stupid. They can easily tell if you care about them. Talk to them, listen to them, and work hard for them, and they will repay you with loyalty and money.
There is no place for a hero product manager who wants to create a product single-handedly. Nor is there room for developers who refuse to communicate with customers. Everything we do is for our customers.
Team
The team represents the people who do the work and deliver to customers. You want people with two qualities:
- skill - people who know what they are doing
- passion - people who care about doing it
This isn't about "having the best people who share all my values." It's about putting the right people in the right places. There is a place for novices and experts alike. There is a place for people who value business over technology and for people who value technology over business.
The team is also a great reflection of the company. If you can't take care of your employees, I don't trust you to take care of customers. If you treat your employees poorly, you'll treat customers poorly. If you see your employees as nothing more than a "cost," you'll see customers as nothing more than "profit."
Quality
There are 2 types of quality:
- standard - you deliver what is expected
- excellence - you will deliver what is expected in a technically exceptional manner, with a strong focus on customer needs.
The standard level of quality is the absolute minimum: delivery to specifications and expected behavior. The product is tested and has no known bugs. Unfortunately, even this standard is often not met. Products are rushed and barely work. Teams have lists of known bugs that are "not so bad."
Technical excellence - doing a great job because you care about the product and customers - means surprising your customers with how much you care and staying ahead of most competitors.
Quality is the value that you provide to your customers.
Unfortunately, I all too often see these values sacrificed in the rush to make a quick buck. The result? Customers jump to the next shiny new thing. Teams just go through the motions. Low-quality products are created that no one really cares about. It's like a machine running on inertia that grinds to a halt.