Dynamics of Software Development, Second Edition

#56: Your boss is your most important customer

Many problems at work can be solved with one simple idea:

Your boss is your best, most important customer.

A huge percentage of the chaos created when working on any team in any institution stems from the broken parts of the relationships between those of higher and lower status in the organization.

Here are some commonplace, poorly informed attitudes and maladapted behaviors that can be observed in almost any corporation:

• Bosses are considered caretakers who give you an allowance (that is, your pay) as your parents may once have done. They are responsible for the most profound matters affecting the organization. They make the rules, keep order, and tell you what your roles and responsibilities ...