Start from basics

Just talked to my mother. Recently she was approached by a parent disturbed with the child’s performance in math (she’s math teacher).

- Has he managed to memorize the multiplication table by age 16? — she asked.

- No, he hasn’t. — was the answer from the boy’s mother.

- So, why do you expect me to get his math skills straight in just 9 hours once he hadn’t managed to get the basics in 9 years?

And she refused.

This is a good metaphor for what some companies are asking for. They don’t have basic stuff like archive, financial control and planning, sales planning, and budgeting, but expect outsiders to build something trendy and cool in the short term. And the funny thing is they don’t want to change ‘boring’ stuff like proper accounting or meeting memo keeping and follow-up. Somehow, they expect to skip it.

That’s not possible. Basics first and all the good things are coming later, on top of a firm foundation. And for basic things you don’t need outside help, you can do it by yourself, if there is a wish. As for consulting guys, they shouldn’t be promising cool stuff just because the customer wants it. Go for the basics; that’s always more promising.