Think Big. Start Small. Move Fast.

At a recent professional gathering, I ended my talk by urging people to "think big, start small, move fast." Interestingly enough I stated that we usually do two of these three really well, and fail miserably at the third. Then I invited people to join me in "starting small". I sincerely believe that is really important.

We want to be open to big ideas. We want to be creative and let that creativity drive us to explore new and unchartered paths. All good.

We also want to execute fast. You have been in those project meetings where the entire time is spent discussing the schedule and trying to hit a date (something that may be a little overrated - but that's another post). The desire and need to move fast is universal across industries and organizations - primarily driven by a goal of creating a first-mover advantage.

However, often we don't start small. And then you have something BIG, and you are trying to move FAST. And this increases risk of failure in multiple areas. Missing planned delivery dates is just the beginning, compromising on scope comes next and most importantly delivering something after a long development cycle completely exposes you to the chance that the market and user needs have already shifted - and that is the biggest risk of them all.

Hence the importance of starting small. Starting small allows you to move fast. Deploy incremental work. Watch real user usage and use that behavioral data to adapt and iterate. Reduces the above risks. Costs less to get first iteration out - something basic, that you can continue to build on.

Try it. Think Big. Start Small. Move Fast.

New Guy/Gal Syndrome

I started a new job about three months ago. And in my first few months at the job, I have heard several comments alluding to the following central theme:

"Ha, you are still new. Let's see if you still feel this way in a few months"
"I felt the same way when I started ... hope that you are able to do more w/ it than I did"
"It's good to see you pushing for some of this stuff - but you are still fairly new"
"Dude, you still got the 'new guy syndrome'!"

Implying that:

The desire to push for positive and wanted shifts in an organization is inversely proportion to the length of time you have worked in that organization. Or that as you get more comfortable and acquire a longer tenure at the organization - your desire to change things goes down, primarily driven from a lack of success (I assume).

And the funny thing is most everyone around you assumes that will be the likely scenario.

What a shame!

My response:

"If having the 'new guy/gal syndrome' is what drives an individual to objectively look at organizational processes and strive to drive more effectiveness and efficiency, than as a leader I hope that this syndrome is contagious and that I can infect everyone else around me with it!"

There. Now you have it. Go, spread it. Go :)