Creatives

The Design Process and ‘Clarifying the Win’

Posted by John Saddington on Feb 5, 2010

Is this situation familiar? I experience this on a daily basis.

And it’s not that this is necessarily bad, but I often have to remember that I’m first a part of “customer service” and way before I ever get to “execute awesomeness.”

But, we can help educate our partner organizations, our ministries, our team-leads on how to best “clarify the win,” and nothing helps a conversation better than asking, very simply, which is the “most” important right now:

  • Cost
  • Speed
  • Quality

In other words, do you want this “cheaper,” “faster,” or “better?” Of course you’ll have a mix, but focusing in can do a lot of good and will save you time later.

Easy to remember and even more effective when practiced!

John Saddington

John is the Chief Editor @ The 8BIT Network and Senior Blog Junkie here at ChurchCreate.He enjoys Triple-Tall Americanos, developing Wordpress Themes, and a few other Random Things.

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11 Responses to “The Design Process and ‘Clarifying the Win’”

  1. James Brooks

    I think that this counts for a lot of situations. I currently work for a clothing company who customise and brand clothing, and we get this all the time.

    You can’t always have your cake AND eat it – what a silly saying!

  2. I just sat down with an intern at our church yesterday and discussed our need for a new website comp for our church. I explained why we needed a new website and then gave him “guidance” on what type of design we wanted. (your caption sounds a lot like my guidance) I think I need to call him back today and re-clarify.

  3. Brian Spessard

    When you’re working around people who don’t always “get” this, or are constantly pushing you to achieve all three on every project, work becomes frustrating (as I have experienced over and over). Educating our superiors in a gentle, loving way is the key to avoiding gray hair :)

  4. I know a guy in the video biz who always says:

    “Fast. Cheap. Good.”

    (dramatic pause)

    “Pick two.”

    ie…You can have it”good” & “fast”, but it won’t be “cheap”.

  5. Been there, and done that, and gotten the t-shirt. What to day with those times that you know you have something awesome that could improve the situation tremendously, but just don’t look forward to fighting all the red tape?

    • relational capital. that’s what it’s about!