Community Comment: Part 22 - The phrase "it depends" is still relevant!
- The phrase "it depends" still relevant
- Decisional factors need to be accounted
- Never bow to unjustified pressure
- Your clients & customers will thank you
The comments I provided in reaction to a community discussion thread.
CEO at Consulting Firm:
Software meetings best practices:
❌ Never say: Never.
✅ Always say: It depends.
Gfesser:
As a consultant, I used the phrase "it depends" many times with clients. One such occasion I fondly recall involved an initial meeting with a potential client in their expansive corner office overlooking the Chicago River. In the middle of the meeting, I was asked point blank, given a choice of tech stack, what I would recommend using if building out their product. I said, "well, it depends". Their response can be summarized as follows: "Consultants still use that line? Why can't you just answer the question?" I proceeded by explaining some factors that need to be taken into account in order to make that type of decision, factors he wasn't able to address during that meeting. The result? We won the job, and I led architecture and development, writing all of the initial code. The client made their first sales to customers within a year. Never bow to unjustified pressure: your clients and customers will eventually thank you.