Toothpick rocketship

Run Forrest, run!
It seems that many of us, eager to flick on the switch and celebrate, find attaining a goal more satisfying than taking the journey there. In a world of constant deadlines (or should I say merely missed targets), where accuracy is compromised to better the bottom-line, where the proverbial early bird always gets the worm, no matter how bland and small, I wonder, is there still room for priding ourselves on the quality of the achievement in the workplace?

What good is it to be the first to market with a product that is limited, does not scale well, lacks essential features or is bug-ridden? I'm a programmer-analyst, so my vision of things has a tendency to revolve around what I do, but I believe this applies to most things. The journey that hopefully takes us to our goal is one that should provide us with calculations made with certitude and precision, processes built on the proper research and experimentation, planning that has taken the time to review historical data, best practices, what others have done and how they went about it, and a willingness to do what is right, the right way.

Crossing the fence
Sure, there will always be the overzealous planner, the anal t-crosser, the non-hacker-by-the-book, the-right-way-or-the-highway types, but I would sincerely prefer driving my car across a bridge they have built, even if it took a month longer to build, than driving on one built by the you-do-it-like-this-and-like-that-et-voila-who-cares-about-the-rules types... hmmm zeppelins come to mind here.

In programming, taking the time and applying your mind to structure your code correctly so that it lays a solid foundation for sustainable use and for future development, seems to me so much more satisfying and worthwhile than just getting an app out there. Sheesh!

Sometimes the late bird gets a large worm that is worth waiting for! Worse case, the next rain will come soon enough.