It’s time to plan your next big product release. You sit down, set a goal for 12 months out, and get to it. What happens next is one of the common fates for traditional product releases:
- Your changes go slowly, leading to missed opportunity and demotivation
- Your funding runs out, and you have an undelivered, half-finished release
- You have to make so many compromises to keep on budget that you ultimately miss the outcomes you desired
And that’s why agile methods are used today. Rather than setting a target for a year out, we iterate and experiment with our product ideas to create the outcomes we desire more effectively and efficiently. So why do we still adhere to traditional personal resolution setting? It ends in the same outcomes as traditional projects with broken resolutions or spent effort without the results we wanted. We either stop going to the gym and feel like personal failures, or keep going to the gym and don’t lose pounds. And if you do keep your resolution and get the massive results you crave? Then your story is so unique its bound for the front page of Reddit.
The failure in your resolution isn’t your fault, its in the way we all set resolutions to execute on our vision for a better self. So this year, break your resolution early, and start experimenting! Instead of setting a 365-day goal, use a iterative approach and set a 14 or 30 day goal. For instance, rather than committing to a year of getting up early to write blog posts, commit to sleeping from 9pm-5am in January to get up early to write your blog. At the end of the month, have a personal retrospective. Did that work and you saw the benefits? Great, do it again in February! Did it not work? Then pivot and sleep from 10pm-6am, or find some other time to write blog posts! Whether your experiment passes or fails, you’re not a failure, and you’re sure to learn a lot about yourself. And now you get 12, 24, or more opportunities to find your next breakthrough in personal happiness, performance, or whatever your vision for 2018 has in store. Resolve to experiment!