Embarrassing SteerCo

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

I had a very embarrassing Steerco this week, with a lot of learnings.

1.What happened?

I used a different source of data for an analysis, rather than the invoice data which was supposed to be the source data for everything.

That resulted in a baseline 6 time higher.

The client captured that in the SteerCo, and no proper explanation came through and it turned into a very embarrassing moment.

The cost was high.

If I had just used the invoice data, I would have saved time in doing the analysis, saved the embarrassment as well as the time I had to put in after the SteerCo to make amends.

The time alone I could have saved would be easily one day of work.

Let along the impact of this embarrassing moment on our credibility and other aspects on the higher lever, such as the possibility of the next phase commitment, as well as the time leadership had to put in to manage damage.

2.What could have been done better?

There were three things I could have done better:

a) Maintain professional consistency in my work

b) Stay vigilant and do not take any chances

c) Be assertive to clarify there and then

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a) Maintain professional consistency in my work

I let my personal feelings impact my decision.

I was so vested in the task that I wanted to get every possible thing that can make it better, so that people would keep seeing the good work I had been doing.

So instead of the using the invoice data as baseline, as every one else was using and as I was using for any other task, I picked another source, which required much more work but did not really have any strong rationale to be a better source than the invoice data, apart from that it would make the analysis look prettier.

And I did not catch the hidden duplication in the data and thus the baseline was 6 times higher.

And then I was hit by the embarrassing moment and had to deal with the consequence.

This is a perfect example why maintaining professionalism all the time is so critical, especially in time-critical tasks.

Photo by Adam Le Sommer on Unsplash

b) Stay vigilant and do not take any chances

I did notice the big difference.

It did come to me that maybe I should validate it with the client.

But I convinced myself out of it, because

1. The logic was sound
2. The timeline was tight
3. Client was not that approachable as they were occupied too
4. I thought no one would notice details at this level in SteerCo, which consisted only of high level management. 

So I decided to get lazy and took the chance.

The combination of client system and the way the data was extracted introduced high duplication in the data, which I was completely unaware of.

And then I was hit by the embarrassing moment and had to deal with the consequence.

Thinking back now, that piece of “detail” was actually quite eye-catching…

Photo by Melany Rochester on Unsplash

c) Be assertive to clarify there and then

Even though it was a bit difficult, I did have a few chances to be assertive and just clarify the doubt right there and then during the SteerCo.

At least, clients would know this was not a mistake. We knew about it and we had a rationale for it.

Hopefully, clients would not walk away from the session, thinking we were incompetent.

And I was struggling all the while until the very end of the session.

But I did not.

Partly because I was afraid this would lead to other undesirable discussions.

Partly because I did not want to disrupt the flow.

But I really should have.

What could be worse than clients forming impression of us being incompetent?

When I seek guidance from leadership afterwards, they thought I should have too.

But I did not.

Now all we could do is damage management, which means work for me and for leadership.

It does seem that we could not have been in a worse position than we are now.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

So to summarize:

1. Maintain professionalism always
2. Do not be lazy
3. Stay vigilant and do not take any chances
4. Do not underestimate
5. Damage control is best done right there and then
6. Speak up bravely
7. Bear in mind that we may not get a chance to clarify sometimes

To us all!

Till next time!