What does it look like for you when you tackle a new effort or decide to set a goal for something you want to add or change in your life? Do you begin with the end in mind and keep the focus there or do you follow the classic advice of breaking down and planning out all your steps?
Dropping It Over The Waterfall
If you have read some of my blogs, you will understand that my habitual approach is to know all the steps ahead of time, and also on getting each next step exactly right, the first time, and that it must fit exactly into the next step, or I won’t make progress until it is done that way (I am a recovering perfectionist, after all).
When I was working as a manager of a technology development team, we learned a new design process. The traditional method of technology delivery was called ‘waterfall’ – and as the name implied, a lot of work was done at a fairly steady pace, then it was ‘dropped’ onto the client in one large delivery. The new process we learned about was called ‘Agile’ and a key difference was iterative design.
To help us understand the concept, they used the example of different approaches to painting the Mona Lisa. Using my approach (and aligning more to older style of development), we would start by making sure we fully understood the intended delivery/outcome, our color palate set properly, and have all our paints organized and mixed. We would then carefully start painting a small section (e.g. a corner background cloud, an eye, the mouth) and continue that way until the full painting was done.
Something From Nothing
The new process, by contrast, starts with a conceptual, quick sketch outline. No paints, no colors, no granular details. Then, using the sketch as a guide, continuing to refine the details, filling in things like eyes, mouth, framing, and then starting with painting. All this allows changes to be made more easily throughout the process, because you can see where what you are doing doesn’t match the intended outcome, and you have invested less resources and time if changes are required.
For someone (i.e. me) who wants to plan each step and know exactly how things will unfold tomorrow, next week, and next month, this approach can be difficult. Iterative work like this inherently is not ‘perfect’, but it is ‘done’ for that level of work and for the intended goal of determining what is working or what needs to be adjusted. It allows you to more easily make mistakes and to correct for them more readily – because you have less to change or undo.
I recently applied this iterative approach to my website. I realized that it was not sufficiently helping folks have a clear understanding of what I do and how I can help them. Rather than my traditional approach of ‘not done until it’s perfect’, I made small adjustments and changes, and then put them out, even though I was not even close to the overall goal much of the time. Over several months, I would then look and see what it ‘broke’ (created confusion or conflicts) for other parts of the website. Then, I would sort out and make those changes, continually making small updates. (Yes, this is a plug to go look: the rework is now done, and I would love to have your feedback).
Changing Your Patterns
While all this may sound like just a new approach for goals and planning, it is not. What it is about is you and how you set your expectations, measure yourself, and how you can learn and grow.
Often, we all are caught in patterns and habits formed from experience and beliefs. When looking to change or do something different, the “how do I” question is a foundational one. Faced with a painful or uncomfortable situation, we generally want to change quickly and radically. That’s understandable, but it can easily lead to an equally (or worse) situation if we leap to a different way quickly.
On the flip side, the weight of where we are, and worries for making it worse, making mistakes, or getting lost can keep us stuck in the situation we want to move away from. So, what can we do, and how does all the discussion of design help here?
Seeing Your Progress
As I have shared in “Inches of Progress” and in “The One Percent Future”, small, persistent changes add up very quickly to a much larger impact than you may see initially or expect at all. Simple, small steps lower the commitment and effort, but still allow you to chip away at what doesn’t work, and adjust towards what does work.
We are built to notice bigger changes, but very small, simple ones will easily escape our attention. It’s only when we look back and see where we have come from that we can notice the changes. While looking ahead is a value to figuring out where we want to be, looking back is important to help ourselves see that we are making headway every day.
So, what will your new Mona Lisa look like? If you want help getting started with what you do next, just reach out and we can talk.
Love, and until next time.
