Altruism in Software

My first jobs working in software were in the background screening and education spaces. Needless to say, I picked up on how the software I was writing was making workplaces more safe and schools more efficient. Over time I became enamored with the idea that software as a function of good in society was a thing and I wanted to remain aligned to that.

A few years into my career, I had the distinct honor to lead the interactive production team at a digital agency in Tempe, AZ called Terralever (now LaneTerralever after a merger). We had an award winning team there, with some of the most talented engineers and designers that I have worked with in my career. We did amazing work for some of the biggest brands in the world.

But there was a big challenge to our success.

The Traditional Agency Model

Nearly every agency during those days sold their work in a fixed bid manner then raced against the clock to finish the project in hopes of profitability. When I first joined Terralever, they were no different. Our delivery process was a mess and, having worked in agile shops for a few years at that point, I proposed we make a change.

Now that didn't mean that our customers were making any changes, as most of them expected the status quo, but the first step we needed to take was to get our internal processes cleaned up. So we began running projects in sprints and we saw immediate benefits. From project team allocation to project lead time, everything was much more predictable.

This didn't keep some of our customers from driving us off the cliff, however, and too many projects continued to end on sour notes.

We needed to change the way our customers engaged with us so that we could ensure mutual benefit.

Indycar.com

After winning the RFP with our proposed creative approach, the Indycar team wanted to start from scratch. We had a kickoff meeting at IMS headquarters in Indianapolis where Kasey Koler, the CMO of Indycar, told us that they needed a completely new site launched prior to the first race of the season, in seven weeks.

Much to the chagrin of my colleagues in attendance, I confidently told him that we could accomplish that. What we didn't talk about, or agree on in that meeting, was the total scope of what needed to be delivered on that date. As it turned out, the engineering team at IMS practiced agile as well, and had convinced Kasey that this was the best way to work with us. Music to our ears.

Due to their need for rapid turnaround, we devised a plan to move each page of the site from UX to UI to Engineering with 24 hours allowed to the customer for feedback between steps. Kasey and the IMS team were hyper engaged and the plan worked flawlessly, allowing my team to move quickly through implementation work.

We delivered the new site on the night before the first race of the season, with a few of us staying late that night to clean up some lingering issues. We had run 3.5 sprints to get to launch, with the team only having to put in some extra hours one weekend to load the content that neither side had thought about (drivers, teams, etc.). No long nights, no hard feelings. Joy all around.

The project continued, post launch, as we continued to add new features and content over the first part of the season leading up to the Indy 500.

To this day, I still cite this project as one of the most successful in my career.

Full Circle

Despite the fact that there were challenges along the way - I even received a nasty voicemail from the then CEO of IMS blaming my team when one of their writers accidentally published an unflattering article - both sides came away from this project feeling great. A solid plan, great communication, and an altruistic approach was all it took.

/rs