Specifications highlight the difference between value creators and value extractors brilliantly.

Value creators treat specifications as minima.   They’re always looking to see far they can go above and beyond, within the time and financial constraints they face.  For them the spec is a starting point.

Value extractors, on the other hand, view specs as maxima.  They’re always looking to see how little they can get away with, how much they can bend the definitions, while still being able to say they’ve met the specification.  For them the spec is the bar, and they’re always trying to lower it.

Extractors win in the short term.  But the future belongs to the creators.  Especially if they collaborate with each other.

 

 

The picture is 2 days worth of lunches for a Finnish schoolchild during lockdown last year.