As space missions go, Russia’s Luna-25 and India’s Chandrayaan-3 couldn’t have been more different.

Russian space officials said their lunar probe “moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon” as it attempted a soft landing on August 19. India’s mission, however, successfully soft-landed on the Moon’s south pole four days later, a milestone Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “belongs to all humanity.”

As dramatic as both missions were and are, they hold critical lessons for software developers in terms of what to do – and not to do – when planning and executing a project. 

You wouldn’t go on a date with a stranger unless you knew at least a little bit about them in advance, would you?

Selecting software developers to help your organization be more effective, competitive, and profitable should follow the same logic. 

When a massive winter storm roared across much of North America in the days leading up to Christmas, no one was surprised when major airlines started cancelling flights.

But over at Southwest Airlines, things were about to get much worse.

“You want how much?”

Software developers often hear this from indignant prospective customers, typically after they’ve shared a quote to develop some new software or update existing code.

This initial reaction may occasionally be followed by an outright rejection of the quote, perhaps with a promise to seek out a cheaper alternative, or even a smart nephew who taught himself to code in the high school computer lab.

Either way, the qualified, experienced developers aren’t getting the business. And the unhappy wannabe-customers may be on the verge of learning an expensive lesson.