Friday 23 March 2012

My friend Mikael, the carpenter...

I’ve talked about Mikael before. I’ve known him since I was six and he’s still one of my best friends. He works as a carpenter and I think he’s really good. I know this because I met a lot of carpenters and seen some really bad ones on TV, so I know what I’m talking about. He helps me building and always gives me good advice when I need them…and I need them. He’s effective, productive and solves problems during projects. He propose solutions and propose other solutions if my ideas are bad or doesn’t work. Yes, I’m more of an esthete than him so sometimes I reject his proposals… Mikael shakes his head… but he always makes my dream come true as long as it doesn’t risk anything.

Yesterday I talked to Mikael about a building two walls in the garden. I asked him: “Do you think one bag of concrete (20-25 kg mix) is good enough for each pole?” Mikael: “Nooo…. You know, when the wind starts to blow… its quite powerful… you should dig quite deep and use quite a lot of concrete. But, don’t you have something to fasten and secure it to, like…the house?” Me: “Yes, that’s a point. The house should work and still make it look really nice.” Mikael: “Ok, then you should use about 20cm screws to secure it well. That should be enough. Don’t use longer because you most probably don’t want to go through the wall. End it up with some silicone to seal it well”.

This saved me a lot of digging (time) and some concrete (money). Most probably it also protected me and my family, neighbors and the house from injuries and damages (quality and security). Not to mention a broken wall (waste of money and a mad Max (Episode 3 221 ;)).

I really hope the IT business become more mature and start to think and act like Mikael.

And I really hope businesses start to understand how extremely good it can be to talk to IT professionals when implementing IT solutions.

Co-operate; but never underestimate an advice from a pro. When buying IT as a service some discussions aren’t necessary at all – “its” included. As I mentioned in the ‘+ the Cloud LESS control tuner’–post; some things you can do on your own, some things you need advice and support to execute, some things is better to be solved by professionals. Building walls are (for me) somewhere in the middle. It would have been nice to just let go of the detailed control and asked Mikael to do it (It would have cost me some bottles of bubbles (cava or champagne)) but it’s wise to not misuse friendship (relationship). This time I choose not to, I just bring the bottles to Mikael’s house tomorrow to toast good friendship and that the spring finally arrives in Sweden. Maybe I give him some advice about IT and outsourcing. ;)

Enjoy the weekend. I will.

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