“One of the most sincere forms of respect is listening to what another has to say”
Bryant H. McGill
Nobody likes to be told they are wrong. Nobody wants to be told they should have done something better. It’s human nature to think the best of ourselves. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just not the best attitude when attempting to find the best solution to a problem. Just what is the value of reviews?
Designed by Committee
The other extreme is where we believe everyone has an equal voice regardless of the situation. Really? We’re designing a new nuclear powered rocket to reach the outer solar system and we have to ask the cleaner whether he thinks the professor in Nuclear physics has chosen the correct error margin in her calculations? There are many ways to solve a problem, any problem. But there will always be a handful of solutions that fall into the top quartile. These are usually those proposed by people with domain knowledge. So whilst committee led projects are often doomed (unless the committee is small and carefully selected), listening to core colleagues can prove invaluable. That’s not to say that we’re not going to get a number of readers now quoting a bit of “blue sky”, “out of the box”, “tangential” thinking that gave an amazing breakthrough. However, let’s look at the average case.
Tick in the Box Review
So you’re convinced, well at least your boss is, that you need to have a review. You prepare all the work, bung it in a document and then email it to everyone in the team. Comments by Monday please. (Today’s Friday and who wants to review over the weekend). Monday inbox, great only one email. Peter thinks the font is a little large. Sorted. Pass that over to the manufacturing team.
1 month on… This unit is way too big. Who on earth made something like that? What could they be thinking?
“Morning Brian… Oh what’s that? Not the slider arm? Surely not that size! Why’s it made in Aluminium, that will never interface with the brass elliptical follower…. Oh, Bri’ you’ll be holding up the project”
If only the review had picked up the 10.0mm rather that 1.00mm typo. If only the reviewers had included someone on the power team……
Review and Respect
A carefully selected review team should be chosen. Not because they are your friends or underlings that will pass your review without comment, but because they have a valuable insight. They can help spot actual mistakes. They can trigger a rethink of potential problems, cost savings or synergies. They may not have the answers themselves, but listening to them can help. The value of reviews is down to respect. Of course there is little value in a tirade of semantics or formatting comments. However, if they misunderstand what is being said, and moving a comma or explicitly breaking a requirement into two makes it atomic and unambiguous, chances are your supply chain will benefit too.
Left Shift
But reviews are expensive and waste time…
Yes, they can be a bit like an insurance policy. They may not pick up much or they may find a glaring error. If they find nothing then you have to ask whether the reviews are being done correctly. Make sure reviewers understand the need to be constructive towards the overall goal, and are not falling into the tickbox trap.
The further to the left we can move any issues the better. Why? As it is simpler and more cost effective to resolve issue in the early stages. Correctly understanding and ironing out issues in the requirements is much better than waiting until the design is complete. Thinking what can go wrong and designing round it is more cost effective than waiting until it has been made. A completed object with a commissioning problem can be a nightmare.
Now Go and Review
So put down your mop for the moment and tell us James, “Do you think 10% is a sufficient margin for extra fuel?”