A friend of mine who makes websites for small business recently told me something that reminded me vividly of my past. Why working for small business is such a pain. It can be summarized in the following dialogue between business owner (BO) and consultant (C):
BO: We want to have a new website.
C: What problems are you hoping it will solve?
BO: We want to get our name out there.
C: OK, but what will CAUSE this to happen?
BO: No idea, but I quite like the design of the Apple website.
C: What are you actually going to implement, it can include a range of possible options.
BO: No idea. Guess we will know when we get there.
C: So, you are going to implement something that you don't know what it means, to solve problems you haven't identified or understood, without definable benefits or requirements?
BO: (silence)