If something is worth doing, it is worth doing properly. If something is worth doing it must be presented properly.
I recently went to see some new bands play live. There were 3 acts that night and I would like to briefly review them here.
The first was dreadful. Bad Music, disorganised, poor lyrics (if you could understand them), the singer took a cup of tea up on stage and ate dinner between songs. A complete write off with no hope.
The second act was very good musically. Had some great songs, with moving lyrics and a haunting delivery. Musically I thought the group was very good, and if we just judged on musical ability I thought had massive potential. The core of what they did, making music, was very good and they were very talented musicians. BUT the presentation was atrocious. The lead forgot her lines on a number of occasions, and started songs over! The lead singer was potty mouthed and threw expletives into the middle of a moving song about her grandfather. The band thought it acceptable to banter with friends of theirs in the audience.
The third group, was the headline for the night, had got it together and were great to listen to. They presented well, smiled, were organised as well as having plenty of musical talent (and as a result are now getting some radio play and interest from record labels).
With this in mind I saw some new software this week, that was technically brilliant. Good complex technical functionality. But the developer had spent very little time on formatting and presentation which meant that the solution had significantly less appeal. Just like the singer who was technically very good, the overall package is poor if not finished off.
I have heard excuses used like “I am just a musician I am not a presenter” or “I am the developer, I’m not worried what it looks like”. You must be concerned about the entire delivery of whatever you are delivering. An extremely talented musician may never be listened to. A brilliantly technical piece of code may never go to market.
Point being – if something is worth doing it is worth doing properly and finishing off with great presentation and delivery.