Core Business Beliefs

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"If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable."

Senaca

Define your desired outcome and engineer success.  Don't ever hope something will work.  If you are unsure, keep grinding on the problem until you are certain of success.

We live in a world of artificial complexity.  The sheer size and scale of our existence is daunting at face value.  But if you just simplify everything, distilling the goal or objective down to its most quintessential element, the answer will become self evident.

Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn famously said  “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.”   While we can debate the validity of his statement, one thing is sure ... Speed to market is incredibly important.  But how do you get to market quickly without compromising your brand, your quality or your reputation?

Progressive elaboration is the mechanism I borrow from the project management domain to embody the best approach to such a problem.

Set value proposition or goal; e.g. "We are going to walk the mountains off in the distance".  At the time you launch your journey, you have no idea what rivers, pits, snares, or obstacles you will encounter along the way.  You are after all doing something no one has done before so there is no map.

But if you keep your eyes open and don't cling too dearly to predetermined dogma you held at the initiation of the journey, as you progress towards your goal the details will evidence themselves, becoming clearer the closer you get to the destination.

Never start at the beginning!  Decide where you think you want to end up and work backwards from there.  With that storyline defined, THEN you engineer the path to the destination.

Reverse Engineering works hand in glove with Progressive Elaboration to guide engineering groups, product managers, sales teams and others to have the confidence to evolve as the journey progresses.

We live in a world STARVING for honesty and authenticity.  The pressure for instantaneous access and immediate response has given rise to a style of answer that is part best guess and part half truth.  Further, there is a pervasive feeling that everyone should know everything all the time.  It's insanity.

So, when someone has the audacity to boldly and confidently tell the truth, especially if its bad news, that person has extreme power in the dynamics of the long term relationship.

The hardest thing to do in business is finish the process, whatever it may be.  Finish the report, finish the product, finish the quarter ... finishing is terribly difficult and crucial.  Focus on the goal and the desired outcome and then work as intentionally as you can to finish the initiative.