Comments on: Don't Just Be Right, Make It Right

By: Do Database Backups Cause Problems? | SQLRockstar

Do Database Backups Cause Problems? | SQLRockstar — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:08:23 +0000

[…] person they were wrong, that database backups did not cause problems. Eventually I learned that it isn’t enough to be right, you need to make it right. And I also learned other things along the way. For example, I learned that database backups do, […]

By: Mark (AjarnMark) Caldwell

Mark (AjarnMark) Caldwell — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:28:23 +0000

Great post, Tom! This is such an important point that I have forwarded this to everyone in my department as a gentle reminder for all of us. I think in our profession particularly, we have a tendency to think in terms of right and wrong and we strive to BE right. But that may not be enough.

By: Colin "Doc" Sobers

Colin "Doc" Sobers — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:46:00 +0000

Thanks for reminding me (us) that what we do is “service” oriented. We can’t forget that we are supposed to be the experts not our clients/customers. They know what they want. It’s all in their head. And by God, they know when they’re talking to you, they heard themselves say what was in their head. They know they told you exactly what was in their head. This too unfortunately, is in their head. So what ends up happening is exactly what happened in the example above.
We as professionals shouldn’t forget to ask questions to further clarify the intent of our clients/customers. May be we can hear some more of what’s in their head to help us provide the desired solution before it gets to the “make it right” solution.

Previous, Prior, Planning, Prevents, Pissed, Poor, Performance!

By: Meredith Ryan-Smith

Meredith Ryan-Smith — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:18:44 +0000

Well said! The company I work for prides itself on excellent customer service and we see that pay off time and time again. We don’t have the lowest price points in our industry, and yet our customers return time and time again because they know we will do what needs done to ‘make it right’. Fortunately that bleeds into our corporate culture and is how we strive to treat co-workers and vendors as well.

By: Buck Woody

Buck Woody — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:23:47 +0000

Agreed – it’s always best to think about the complete solution, both before and after the situation. And there’s fault here as well (possibly) if they didn’t tell her she would need both.

But there’s also fault on the part of this woman. I see it all the time – people want to dump a problem and have someone else fix it. Even when a vendor is at fault, I try to come up with possible ways to fix the issue, not “this is your problem”. Unfortunately we’ve raised a generation of “non-thinkers” these days that can’t see past the issue.

Great post – thanks!