Words that make projects late
They look innocuous enough, but these six words, according to Jason Fried, founder of 37signals, can derail an interactive project and delay a launch:
Only
Need
Can’t
Easy
Just
Fast
Fried shared these “red flag” words in his keynote address at the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) Summit last week. And he offered this example of their use:
"It’s only one more feature and we really need it. We can’t launch without it. It should be easy. Let’s just give it a try, it’ll be really fast."
Fried is the brains behind a suite of productivity tools for designers, publishers, marketers, and small businesses that includes BaseCamp™, the much-heralded project management and collaboration software, and Campfire™, an easy-to-use web-based group chat tool.
Instead of “executing brilliantly on the basics,” Fried said both clients and interactive agencies spend time layering on complexity, fussing over details, adding unnecessary elaboration, and wasting precious time in the process. And it all starts with words like just and easy, which tend to diminish the actual work involved.
In addition to limiting the words we use in managing projects, Fried is also a firm believer in limiting meetings, which he calls “toxic, costly time wasters,” and limiting workplace interruptions. In fact, Fried recommends mandated no talking periods at work for significant boosts in productivity.
No talking. Hmmm. It should be easy. Let’s just give it a try.
— That's words on words
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October 9th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
I’ve designed, configured, integrated and launched many B2B marketing automation system in the last 10 years, and I would say that “ignoratio elenchi,” which means “ignorance of the issue,” is the leading cause of waste from “layering on complexity, fussing over details, adding unnecessary elaboration” to such projects. Ignotatio elenchi is a fallacy in the way that people think about how they’re to arrive to a particular end.
A marketing team may agree that using a particular tool set is a necessity to achieve successful interaction with a client base, and would want this technology promptly set up and deployed. Configuring and deploying the tool may seem to be the issue at hand. But it isn’t. The issue that teams ignore most – the real issue – is power-wielding. Technology is a straw man. Who will exploit the tool and for which motive carries greater moment than which technology is necessary and how it is to be assembled. Yet through the configuration of a tool, those who stand to gain from wielding the power of its usage confront those who also stand to gain from the same but differently.
Addressing the issue – the real issue – in question is how a team can avoid the fallacy of “ignoratio elenchi.” That requires most often that every individual own up to personal aspiration and give up something good for something better. In a word, it requires sacrifice from everyone. But sacrifice is not a line item in a job description. The hard choice in leading a team is to begin by convincing all members of doing the right thing, followed by doing things right. The price to pay for doing otherwise is complications, conflicts and crappy work.
October 11th, 2007 at 2:08 am
Fun and true. Watch those small words and smash them with the flyswatter.