Hit the mark first time

We took the whole house to the shooting range and shot clay pigeons. The point was the same as in our development work: to hit the target first time.

On the range it becomes obvious what it takes. You need to know the target, understand the distance and aim before you pull the trigger. Miss, and the shot is spent. The same applies to software. If we do not understand the customer in every process — the need, the day-to-day and what counts as success — we build the wrong thing and fix it afterwards.

The day was therefore about more than clay pigeons. We talked about targets. About listening before we code. And about being a small house, where the person who meets the customer is also the person who writes the code. That obliges us to hit the mark first time.