A simple twist of fate

The project had a rocky start. New technologies. New frameworks. New methodologies. People with 2 years of experience in India were reporting to firangs with 10+ years. To people who had started their own companies before, who have been CTOs and Software Architects. To add to that, the project was grossly underestimated, off by 1 year. Everyone was very skeptical about the whole arrangement.

Daily status calls were a nightmare. "Why did this take so much time?" "You guys are idiots!" 

We all developed thick skins. But we are very resilient. We knew this was an excellent project. We could learn a lot from these guys. And now, we had a cause. To prove them wrong. So, everyone slogged. The official work hours were 12:30 PM to 12:30 AM. But we often ended up working till 2 AM everyday.

We loved it. Those were the most productive days. Even though we were working very long hours, they felt very short. The cooperation in the team was excellent. Everyone did what they had to do. There was no hierarchy. No manager wanted to touch this project. 

In the darkest days, the senior management initiated a Case Study. What went wrong in this project? 

But a few months later, the story changed. All the hard work had paid off. We now had complete knowledge of things. And our productivity was 3 times higher than them. 3x productivity for a 1/10th of the cost. The client poured out their appreciation for the work. They loved our solutions. More work came in. The team size grew 5x. New work meant new revenue which got the management's attention. 

What went right with this project? Now, they want a new case study.