9. Get their fingerprints on it.
If you go it alone, then it’s an uphill battle. It can feel like pushing rocks uphill!
The best way to get folks on board is to get their fingerprints on it. This means co-creating the vision with them. This means being inclusive on key decisions. This means having people participate in the process so they feel empowered and want to play the game.
If you build products for customers, the shortcut to success is to have customers participate up front and throughout the process. They’ll tell you what they want if you ask them. You don’t have to throw it over the wall and hope for the best.
The sooner you get folks involved and the sooner they get bought in, the sooner they have a sense of ownership. Also, the sooner you will have a tribe of raving fans that will help you move the ball forward and champion the cause.
10. Focus on “good enough for now.”
This is how you get over “analysis-paralysis” and perfectionism. What’s the simplest solution for the problem at hand? What’s the minimum you could do to make it work, and then make it right?
If you get in the habit of thinking in terms of version, then you can enjoy the benefits of incremental progress. The power of incremental progress is that you finish what you start. You actually get to deliver something of value and get feedback on it.
You can then use the feedback to tune it and improve it. You can then play around with your release cycles to find the best rhythm for results.
For this to work well, you have to have a culture of continuous improvement, so that you actually get a chance to revisit things that need to be improved. This is a much faster path than trying to get everything figured out and get everything right up front.
The reality is you don’t know what will surprise you, and you are better off putting something out there so that you can see how it holds up under actual usage. You will gain clarity and insight if you look for it, and you will ultimately learn the lessons that help you improve next time.
These are all powerful practices when you apply them. As it’s been said, the trick isn’t knowing what to do; it’s doing what you know.
I will share with you one more practice that helps you turn your insight into action. This is a practice from the software world.
Create a personal checklist of the practices that you want to do more of. Add this as a reminder in your calendar and have it pop up daily or weekly, depending on how often you need the reminder. You can then continue to adjust your personal checklist as you go along, so that it serves you and helps bring out your best.
