Hit The Ground Running

There are a few cliches that make me hold a whole conversation in disregard. "Level Playing Field" <- no such thing.

"I never make the same mistake twice" <- it is my observation it takes two times to realize it's a mistake.

"Hit the ground running" when used in the context of an IT project. If someone tells you that is expected, the running should be for the hills. IT Projects take planning and coordination even when the goal is defined and the staff is brilliant. You could throw the best musicians in the world on stage, demand Beethoven's Fifth and not get music. I always tried to avoid people who use this phrase because it is code for lack of planning.

That said, I've recently had an insight that reversed my attitude.

My hero is Alton Brown whose show Good Eats is pure genius and who is a judge on another fun program, Iron Chef. In an interview, he was asked how the Iron Chefs manage all the kitchen staff since they only have an hour after the secret ingredient is reveled. His answer: "Look, it doesn't matter what the secret ingredient is or what the chef is planning, someone is boiling water and someone is melting butter and someone is chopping an onion."

I realized that someone is me. The Tech Leads could still be deciding between SQL Server or Oracle; the Business Analysts could still be designing the reports and the lawyers could still be negotiating with the suppliers, but someone needs to open every legacy Excel doc and and codify what's inside and someone needs standardize the data within columns and tables and someone need to review the referential integrity.

So technically, I guess I can say "I hit the ground running!"