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Done is better than perfect

– Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook

Done is better than Perfect!

This quote echoes with the agile business philosophies which I feel so dearly for. All entrepreneurial experience so far has been about getting things done. Although there was always a huge focus on quality of produce, it was more important to get things done and crossed off the list.

The strongest motivation during the days of entrepreneurship was the realisation that we were never going to be perfect. But that didn’t mean that we were willing to compromise on quality very easily.

It is a difficult balance, but I think a key one if we were to find ways for a business to keep afloat. The quote talks to me about three specific areas: Delivery in time, Acceptable Quality, continuous feedback loop and the importance of time in a startup.

1. Delivery in Time

As a startup, the biggest challenge we have is to get things done in time with limited resources. I do recall that I talk about lean startup and reduced waste a lot. But equally important is the requirement to get things done quickly.

One of the reasons large businesses like to engage with startups is the ability to churn things quick. It is often difficult to do this in a large business where processes act against agility and quick deliveries.

If startups need to maintain their edge, there is a need to get things done quick and in time. Project timelines and deadlines take a huge precedence over finesse and most often deliverables are ok with rough edges.

But the key requirement of agile needs to be followed – WORKING PRODUCT. We cannot send something out which is full of bugs – that always is a strict NO NO.

2. Acceptable Quality – Done is better than perfect

The bedrock of agile depends on the quality of produce. In the interest of time, a startup can’t afford to send out a poor quality of product as done.

And this is precisely where a mutual agreement of definition of done is hugely important. If all stakeholders know at each key touchpoint of a development what they need to expect, the business and delivery have a  good chance of moving ahead.

The difficulty is when a business/startup produces an outcome which none of the stakeholders are expecting. In other words – surprises are frowned upon at every stage, sometimes even pleasant ones are not good because it opens up a question of what was compromised.

We all know that a huge constraint/factor is time limitation and availability of resources. If these are not focused in an optimal manner to reach the business deliverables, then we are opening ourselves to a huge vulnerability.

3. Small Deliverables

Gone are the days when  a large business provides a project and expects update only at the end of a deadline. We are in the era of continuous feedback. Customer requirements are in constant flux and change.

As a startup, the business is expected to be agile and responsive to the demands. Hence an overall project plan is always open to change in the interest of time and delivery.

All parties / stakeholders need to be aware and on top of these requirements. Although this sounds very simple, many business find it difficult to cope with change in scope for a deliverable. All the more reason to be more focused on more bite sized deliverables which can be consumed.

4. Continuous improvement

For me, this is the best part of a startup/any new business. It lies in the concept of continuous delivery and improvement.

We start from the point that the outcome produced has scope of improvement. At each stage, these deliverables need to be revisited to create a working solution.Although we all like the perfect solution, it cannot come at the cost of time.

The beauty of continuous improvement is in the fact that it opens us to positive criticism. This encourages a cultural shift from criticism to positive problem solving. After all, everyone is running in the race with less time and resource constraints which means we can get quicker and better results  by working together.

The above facets of agile processes and methodologies quickly lead us to revisit the quote:

Done is better than perfect

– Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook