Standards are a measure of quality of both practice and product, they allow us to hold ourselves and others accountable to the quality of our work and our discipline. Standards can be applied to all aspects of practice, from technical standards, that ensure the security and quality of the products that we produce; to standards of communication that facilitate effective and harmonious collaboration. Some standards maintain a level of discipline in our practice to help maintain said discipline during times of calm, where our human nature might tempt us towards becoming lax on more important standards in our work.
Standards of quality in a product, such as security standards are generally very easily justified in their affect on the ability of a product to function effectively. The difference between such standards and explicit requirements of a product, is that they are often a generalised need of an industry, where the end-user or client may not have the knowledge to understand how such standards affect the product at large. Here, our expertise as practitioners in the space, oblige us to enforce the needed standards, without needing to be told by our clients.
Not all standards are so vital to the operation of the final product, or are not so evident in our expertise as professionals. Standards of communication allow us to be predictable and efficient in our interactions with our co-workers and other stakeholders, such standards should be focused on driving clarity and detail of requirements as well as maintaining respectful relationships, ensuring the quality of those relationships, and by extension, said communication, over time.
Finally, there are standards of practice, these can overlap somewhat with the aforementioned standards of work and communication, but are mainly focused on the ‘cleanliness’ of our space. This can be equated to a soldier being expected to make their bed, or a mechanic being expected to keep their workshop in tidy order, with all of their tools in the correct place. Such standards generally focus on a cohesive environment in which to collaborate, creating a predictability that allows others to effectively predict where to find a need tool, or to predict how a piece of work may be structured, saving time on collaboration, forgoing the need to find what we are looking for when working with something produced by someone else.
Discipline is vital to maintaining quality in our work over time; improving our reliability as professionals, and our motivation as humans. Standards can be used as a tool to maintain motivation and discipline at times were intensity and pressure are slight. When we maintain standards in our work during such times, it can help instil a sense of progress and accomplishment to help drive motivation, when external motivations are not present.
We must always be considerate to the context of the situation though when applying standards. If a standard is determined to be detrimental to effectiveness, exceptions should be considered, though this decision should not be taken lightly. Making a bed when the enemies are at the gate, might make the soldier too late to make a difference, checking that their weapon is in good working order however, while it may delay them a moment, could prevent catastrophe, should there be some issue. This is not to say that there is no value under normal order to the making of the bed. This small task, when external motivations are lacking, helps to maintain discipline and create structure within their work.
Similarly, in software, when the pressure is on and time is limited, we might consider forgoing certain standards that inhibit our ability to complete our work in our timely manner, when time is in short supply. Having followed good standards during those times when the pressure was not so high, we should also be confident that we have properly maintained standards such as security, and while we may still check that they are still sufficient, we can have confidence that they are unlikely to take up time that we may not have.
When we are tough on standards, we provide ourselves with surety that what we produce will meet predictable expectations, giving us the confidence to be able to move forward and build upon what we have done, knowing that we have laid a strong foundation to support whatever work we may wish to add to a project. Knowing that standards are being followed by others allows us the confidence to stand by them and their work, allowing us to elaborate on the work of others without anxiety. And when the enemies are at the gate, standards give us solace in that we are battle ready, that our tools are prepared and that we are equipped to handle the tough times ahead.
