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  • Progress Beats Perfection

    We’ve all encountered the perfectionist in the workplace – always revising, re-doing, and re-tweaking their work until finally satisfying a ridiculously high (and yet subjective) bar. And we’ve all met the scrappy pragmatist who cobbles things together and quickly moves on to the next task. The perfectionist’s commitment to quality is oftentimes admirable, but their relentless pursuit of perfection often puts them behind the pragmatist in getting things done.

    A culture of perfectionism is often a real problem. It stifles creativity and leads to a fear of making mistakes, both of which get in the way of innovation. Perfectionism drives builders away. Embracing a culture or expectation of perfection can lead to burnout and a decline in team spirit. Perfectionism is often guilty of slowing the work and wasting resources on things that don’t actually make a difference. 

    For example, it is common for big tech companies to hire highly-paid ex-consultants with the expectation to solve thorny problems, only to have them spend hours beautifully formatting an executive document which could instead have been summarized in a 20-word email, or to spend a week creating a 50-page appendix on the off-chance that an executive asks a specific question.

    Shifting your focus from achieving perfection to embracing progress unlocks a multitude of benefits. Pragmatism, when coupled with the freedom to take risk and make mistakes, allows companies to move from idea to execution quicker. A pragmatic mindset allows for agility and adaptation, and creates a culture of continuous learning within your organization. 

    But to be fair, there are instances where a desire to be perfect is warranted. For example, a NASA engineer tasked with bringing astronauts safely back to earth absolutely needs to be perfect, because the consequences of failure could be disastrous. However, the stakes are a little different for an advertiser testing ad copy, who can be a lot more pragmatic as they learn what drives clicks to a website.

    Almost all of the time, we are in the position of the Ads tester, not the NASA engineer. Concerning strategy, James Schoen, Co-Founder of Trumbug explains that “a good strategy is clear, concise, and easily understood by those who have to execute it. Even if it’s not the perfect direction, if everyone is aligned and working towards a common goal, you’re likely to be somewhat successful.” In James’ example, it is progress that makes the difference, despite the lack of perfection.

    Here are some things we’ve learned to favor progress over perfection:

    • Ask “what happens if.” Instead of defaulting to perfect, ask yourself what happens if you don’t finish on time, what happens if your email has spelling errors, what happens if the colors, font size, etc. aren’t on brand? You’ll often realize that nothing serious will happen, showing you that you don’t need to be perfect.
    • Determine the “definition of done.” Identify the minimum viable product (or what are the bare minimum requirements) for each item you need to deliver before you start work. This will help you avoid feeling compelled to add a bunch of unnecessary bells and whistles to whatever you are doing.
    • Prioritize Ruthlessly. Remember that in most cases you have many other things that need to be done, and you’ll need to simplify, delegate or eliminate tasks from your list. Keeping in mind the next important task on your list helps you move on instead of having too many tasks pile up!
    • Embrace Iteration. Recognize that much of the important work you do will end up having to evolve over time. Understanding what you need to get done before the next round of feedback helps to avoid aiming for perfection at every step. For example, if you’re working on a slide deck, tell your supervisor you only want feedback on the content, not the format in this particular iteration.
    • Celebrate progress: Acknowledge and celebrate progress, both of things that have worked out, but also on things that failed and led to learnings. This recognition keeps teams motivated while remaining them that it is OK to fail, so long as you learn.

  • One-Way and Two-Way Doors: Know The Difference

    It’s easier to pick a new cereal than a new home. Sounds obvious, but why? Well, picking between Lucky Charms and Honey Nut Cheerios is a pretty insignificant decision with next to no risk. Worst case – you have to head back to the store and try another option. But buying the right home? You have to invest time in searching, fill out endless amounts of paperwork, secure a mortgage, pack up and sell your current home, hire movers, say goodbye to old friends and make new ones, and so on. If you don’t like the new home, you can’t just simply head to the store and return home with the new one in a couple of minutes.

    We refer to these kinds of decisions as two-way doors and one-way doors. Two-way doors are low risk and easily reversible, like picking cereal, while one-way doors have serious consequences that you can’t simply ignore or undo, such as choosing a home. 

    What Kind of Door is This?

    When making choices, decision makers must understand the type of door they are facing. Approaching a two-way door as though it were one-way wastes time and resources, while treating a one-way door as two-way can land you in hot water, fast. One way to determine which kind of decision you are facing is to ask “what happens if I get this decision wrong?” If the answer is serious, you’re looking at a one-way door. If the answer is no big deal, its a two-way door. 

    Never Walk Blindly Through a One-Way Door

    When you identify a one-way door, your decision on whether to go through requires very careful consideration. As Jeff Bezos explains in Amazon’s 2016 letter to shareholders, “these decisions must be made methodically, carefully, slowly, with great deliberation and consultation. If you walk through and don’t like what you see on the other side, you can’t get back to where you were before.”

    As an example, imagine you’re a CEO targeting 50% revenue growth in the next 3 years. One of your options is a major pivot to put GenAI at the core of your business. Your research suggests that this can open up significant growth opportunities, but doing so requires a huge investment in a new and relatively untested technology. The majority of your team doesn’t have the required expertise, so you will likely need to hire new staff. Going ahead with the GenAI pivot is a one-way door – a significant decision that, once made, can’t simply be undone without enormous consequences.

    Here are some other examples of one-way doors:

    • Mergers and Acquisitions: Acquiring a competitor is a bold move which typically requires painful integration efforts, but it comes with high rewards if successful.
    • Product Pivots: Completely changing your core product or service is a major gamble, but sometimes necessary to stay ahead of the curve.
    • Long-Term Contracts: Signing a multi-year deal with a key vendor locks you in, but may come with favorable commercial terms.
    • Accepting Investment: Taking money from investors requires you to give up a piece of your company, but can give you the capital you need to grow.

    Don’t Waste Too Much Time Analyzing Two-Way Doors

    When you identify a two-way door, the decision of whether to go through is much easier. Two-way doors are all about learning on the fly and adapting to new information, in a much lower stakes environment, as Bezos explains “you don’t have to live with the consequences for that long. You can reopen the door and go back through.” Use your best judgment to make a quick decision and test new ideas, learn from setbacks (remember, even failures can be valuable lessons), and adjust your course as needed.

    Here are some other examples of two-way doors:

    • A/B Testing: Experiment with different marketing campaigns or website layouts to see what resonates best with your target audience.
    • Minimum Viable Products (MVPs): Launch a stripped-down version of your new technology to gather user feedback before full-scale development.
    • Piloting New Processes: Test a new workflow within a small team before rolling it out company-wide.

    Find Ways to Create Two-Way Doors

    The most creative leaders find ways to test the biggest decisions with two-way doors. Returning to our home buyer example, let’s say you are thinking of moving out of a busy city and buying a home in the countryside. Family is close by, and the area has outstanding natural beauty. But you’ve never lived there before, you aren’t sure how you feel about the quieter life and the significantly longer commute.

    In this situation, you might delay the one-way door (buying a home in the area), and instead create a two-way door by staying in a rental for a few months. This gives you the opportunity to experience the quiet and whether you can handle the commute. This two-way door essentially becomes a pilot as part of the one-way door’s research, to ensure you make the most informed decision possible!

  • Avoiding the 88% Trap: Setting Your Transformations for Success

    According to Bain & Company, a staggering 88% of business transformations fail to achieve their original ambitions. That’s an unbelievable amount, considering the amount of time, resources, and energy poured into these transformations. With so much at stake, how can you bridge the gap between ambitious plans and disappointing outcomes? A good place to start is realizing that transformations are not one-time events, but longer journeys requiring clear direction and sustained effort. 

    A fitness example will resonate with many of us: have you ever embarked on a fitness journey, only to see that journey fizzle out prematurely? Maybe you’ve had a goal to run a marathon in an ambitious time – you’ve bought a nice pair of running shoes and paid your race registration, but without a solid training plan, and mechanisms to keep you accountable to it, progress stalls, and motivation dwindles. Next thing you know, it’s race weekend and you’re nowhere near your target time, or maybe you didn’t even show up to the race at all.

    This is what happens with 88% of transformations. Leaders get excited about the possibilities a transformation brings, but fail to translate that excitement properly into a practical roadmap and see its execution through to success. Let’s break down some key elements missing from many failed transformations:

    • Clear Strategy: Transformations need a north star that everyone can understand and rally behind. This “strategy on a page” should outline the company’s ambition and the key initiatives for achieving it.
    • Actionable Initiatives: Initiatives need to be defined in detail so that teams can bring them to life. Initiative charters are crucial here. These documents define scope, deliverables, timelines, and assigned team members, to help bring the direction teams need for execution.
    • Accountability and Progress Tracking: Regularly tracking initiative progress against defined charters keeps motivation high and helps teams maneuver around roadblocks. Without governance and accountability, teams lose focus, and execution wanes.

    By implementing these key elements, teams can avoid the 88% trap and successfully achieve their ambitions. Tools like stratsuma empower businesses to navigate their transformation journeys with confidence and achieve lasting success. Learn more about how stratsuma can help you navigate your transformation journey today.