Being competent is more than just how good you are at the task at hand

Photo by Bjorn Agerbeek

I had to pick up some screws from the local bolt shop this week.

I went in on Tuesday and asked for them.

It's usually a certainty that whenever I go in there, they don't have at least one thing on my list. It's the rare occasion indeed that they can completely fulfil my requests. Not that I begrudge them that. Surely it's not possible to have stock of every bolt, screw, nut, washer, o-ring, and bearing. Especially in this little shop, staffed by older gentlemen who will happily potter around and grab you four screws, two washers, and a wingnut.

On Tuesday I went in and they didn't have my screws. They were busy in there at that time and the guy said he'd get them in for me tomorrow (Wednesday). He didn't write down what I needed, and I had a sneaking suspicion the screws weren't going to be there.

I dropped in on Thursday and asked about the screws.

The look on his face told me everything I needed to know. At least this time he wrote down everything - including my name and phone number, which means this time I'll get a call when they're in (again, tomorrow). I made it clear that I needed them for sure this time.

I walked out of there slightly miffed.

I don't get miffed easily. I'm rarely cranky, occasionally mad, and almost never fire-and-brimstone angry. But Thursday I was miffed. I wasn't miffed that they didn't have the screws I asked for. As I said, it's not possible to have everything in stock. And I absolutely appreciate that they'll grab you single-digits of whatever hardware you need without complaint. They'll even let you pay card for it.

I was miffed that on Monday I was told they would be in on Wednesday, and they weren't there because they didn't order them. The guy behind the counter didn't do immediately the basic thing he needed to do to ensure the process was followed through.

I was miffed because if you say you're going to do a thing, you should do it.

Having Competence vs Being Competent

In medical devices, competence is a highly sought after commodity. From both the technical and clinical side. Competence makes development smoother, more efficient, and cheaper - regardless of the cost of paying competent people.

In startups this is even more true. The level of competence of those within a small or tiny company, not just from top management but from those that do the heavy lifting, can be directly correlated to the success of that company. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that a team of highly competent individuals can cause a company to succeed despite top management.

It sounds obvious, but competence is more than just being good at the work you do. It also means you're competent at handling the inputs and outputs of the work you do. This is how others judge your competence.

That is to say, when a client asks to you do something, you understand what is being asked. Not just the actual task, but the surrounding requirements; what is its purpose, when is it needed, who is it for etc. You don't need to be reminded, you don't need to be re-sent something, and they know what you're going to do and when it'll be done. You demonstrate competence before you've even started working on the problem.

By way of example, the guy at the bolt shop filled me with doubt as I walked out on Tuesday because I knew something was missing. I knew he was busy and he hadn't immediately written down the screw size I needed. Even if he had delivered, and the screws were there Wednesday, I still walked out lacking confidence he was going to deliver on what he'd said he'd do.

If a client isn't certain they're going to get what they asked for, you're on the back foot before you've even started work.

Setting and Adjusting Expectations

I'm familiar with work environments where over-promising and under-delivering was part of the culture. Worse was just perpetually kicking the can, admitting down the road to the customer that things weren't going to plan. The customer would just get a "yeah, yeah, all good", and still never get what they needed. Instead of stepping out of the hole they were in, they just kept digging until it was too late to do otherwise. On more than one occasion I've seen the customer just give up and go somewhere else.

In order to avoid looking a little bad now, they inadvertently looked a lot worse later.

An equally large part of looking competent before you've even started the work is setting accurate expectations of what will be delivered and when. Again, this sounds obvious. If you're not sure you can deliver on time, say you're not sure you can deliver on time. If you're not sure you can do the thing being asked, say you're not sure you can do it. Clients will often accept what the limitations are up front, and plan accordingly. Far better to both be on the same page, than disappoint the client come deadline. Or worse, confirm to the client what they suspected at the start; that you weren't going to deliver.

Transparent communication always works in your favour. Even if every other odd is stacked against you. And this is especially true in R&D-heavy activities where the outcomes are unknown.

This goes right down to even confirming receipt of an email or instruction. Even if you have nothing additional to say, just let the client know you've acknowledged the information you've received. Where appropriate, I always try and respond to an email within an hour. I'm sure my clients appreciate knowing that if they send me an email, they'll get a response. Even if it's just 10-4.

One of my bugbears is radio silence. If you're not on top of your emails, you look like you're not on top of other things too (even if you are). It's a halo effect.

Supercompetence

Of course if you and the client are both clear on what the expectations are, it's much easier to over-deliver.

This doesn't necessarily mean doing more work or higher quality work, it can also mean delivering with the quality-of-life of the client in mind. Need to submit the files as Parasolid format? Give them STLs as well so they put them straight on the office 3D printer. Only handing over a few files? Properly label and version them, and make them easily accessible. Make things easy to find/make/modify a year or five years from now.

Make it effortless for them to work with you. Separate to the work itself.

The ending of the story was Friday morning the bolt shop called me to tell me that my screws were in. Full credit to the guys, they didn't make the same mistake twice and delivered as promised. Now I can deliver as promised.