What’s “good enough”? (Productive Flourishing Pulse #473)
Mid-month is a great moment to check in on your "definition of done"
We’re smack in the middle of the month today — a good time for a mid-month review.
In addition to the six questions Charlie poses in that post, another good supplemental question you may want to consider: What’s good enough?
Take that a step further, and it starts to connect to “What goals or projects [then] need to be adjusted or dropped?” But there’s a nuance about “good enough” that’s related to both level of success and level of “doneness” (what’s referred to in software circles as “definition of done.”).
A few follow-up questions you might ask to help you drill down on this idea:
Is the level of success you set for this project still what you want? Are you willing to displace other projects to keep success at this level? Are you willing to ask for more help from your success pack to reach that level of success? (Remembering that epic successes can only be obtained with the help of others.)
What’s your definition of done? If you haven’t already, take some time now to be explicit in what you’re including in this project, and articulate for yourself (and your project team) what “done” looks like. Not only will this help everyone stay on the same page, it’ll also let you know when you’re exceeding the scope of the project (because we all have a tendency to add, and not so much subtract).
What things could you subtract from the project and still get 80% of the result? A mashup of subtraction and the Pareto principle, use this question to help you hone in on “good enough.” Or, what’s your MVP (minimum viable product)? What would you be happy enough to get into the world without it being perfect?
Recognize, too, that you can always add more in later. Do a “Phase Two” or a “Second Edition.” But when you’ve arrived at “good enough,” you may find that is exactly the level of done and success you wanted, and you’re ready to move on to the next project.
Check out Reads and Seeds 👇 for some additional thoughts from Maghan on things to consider as you work through your mid-month review.
-Steve
Other News and Features
We all know it makes sense to do Quarterly Planning…. And yet making time to do it (and knowing what the plan should involve) can be a challenge. Our next Quarterly Planning session for Q2 is Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 11am PDT — a chance to lock in where you need strategic focus and learn how to prioritize what matters most.
Big thanks to Entrepreneurs On Fire podcast with John Lee Dumas (author of The Common Path to Uncommon Success, and a member of the Hubspot Podcast Network) for inviting Charlie on the show again. This EOF episode dove into “How Improving Team Habits Improves Results, Teamwork, and Worklife”.
In case you missed it, earlier this week Charlie wrote about Crowdsourced Compassion: Accepting Help in The Age of Crowdfunding and how in a new age of hybrid relationships we can consciously support each other and be in community with our online fam.
Reads and Seeds
Maghan agreed to share some thoughts from recent reads and her coaching sessions as we hit the midpoint of the month:
In her latest blog post “How to build a body of evidence to boost your confidence,” Pam Slim provided prompts that would make a great addition to the first question in the mid-month review “What have you accomplished?” Conducting what she calls a “body of evidence audit” may just reveal wins you might not have considered otherwise but that by all means should be counted.
“Remember that we are in the middle of a messy creative process. Things will seem unstructured. They’ll seem unfocused. And you might feel like you’re rambling, but that’s how you discover where you’re going. You’re doing just fine.”
is talking about the messy middle that happens in the writing process, but it’s a very helpful reminder for what we experience when we are in the middle of anything (like our March projects) — the middle can be messy and that’s okay. Learn from it and keep going. You’re doing just fine.What’s the outcome you’re looking for? I asked a version of this question a few times during coaching calls this week. As we work through our projects and plans we can get so focused on the doing that we lose sight of why we’re doing all that doing in the first place. Use your mid-month review to take a step back from the work and remind yourself what you’re working towards. Does this perspective change how you’ll approach your projects over these last few weeks of March?