The Simple Solution Is Your Friend in Complex Times
Focus on the bare essentials to regain sanity.
Product development is complex.
But man, this pandemic raises it up several notches. All of a sudden, our kids are with us at work. We have tentative job security at best. Our health is at risk — not only from COVID-19. Sitting at a desk in endless conference calls plummets our daily step count. And the scale is not our friend lately.
We are always connected and available. Weekdays and weekends blur together. And we have lost our human-to-human connection. How much longer can we go on like this?
To top it off, the urgency has increased ten-fold. Our products are due now or at risk of cancellation.
We need simplicity. And we need it fast.
Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done is essential.
— Principle 10 of The Agile Manifesto
The Agile principle of simplicity has long been my favorite. It allows Agile teams to reach their true potential. Without it, teams struggle.
Emergencies pave the way for simplicity. As chaos increases, the simple path is the only way back to sanity. A crisis opens the door for simplicity to come in. There is no other option but to focus on the bare essentials. There is no daylight for any extra.
But our instincts for perfect can get in the way when our safety weakens. Let’s dive deeper.
Our Instinct Is Perfection
We want to deliver the perfect product. If we prepare well, we believe we can facilitate every meeting on time with all objectives met and all opinions heard. There is no option but to deliver according to plan. We want to prepare a perfect plan and design. We want to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s.
To make this work, we want to find the perfect tools and perfect process to mimic co-location in a virtual environment.
We want to deliver the perfect output. Otherwise, our career may be at stake if our delivery is inferior. The economic situation of this pandemic heightens this response.
”There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
— Peter Drucker
But we can’t afford to add process, to add tools, or to add features. The development of our product was hard enough before lock-down became our reality.
So now, we must find simple solutions to our new situation. We must find a way to elevate the human aspect and remove procedure. Perfection and addition will not do this. Subtraction and good enough is the way.
Embrace Simplicity
The simple answer is to get back to Agile first principles. We must focus on people. We must collaborate. We must work as a team. We must start less and deliver only what is essential to meet our goals and user needs. We must embrace change and pivot.
Figure A provides guidance on how to put this into action. These are a few simple ideas to get you started.
Simplicity will be our saving grace in these stressful times. It will protect our sanity. And it will help move our products forward. It might even give us time to take much-needed care of ourselves and others.
Simplicity will help us emerge stronger. Embrace it.
Also posted on CoachLankford.com.
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