Jason Fried of 37Signals fame doesn't dissappoint as a speaker and this was another great presentation with some good takeaways and quotes. While I don't always agree with him, he does an excellent job of bringing the learnings of his small agile team into the spotlight for consideration. In his very Zen-like presentation Fried emphasized focusing on the now, not the future.
In no particular order here are my notes and comments:
- The Great Unknown - Nobody knows with a great deal of certainty whats going to happen
- Who Knows, Who Cares - Stop worrying about every little thing you don't know or can't know about. Too much time is wasted trying to identify, quantify and mitigate risks with uknowns. If you need to change, then change.
- Be successful and make money by helping other people make money. Great point. Always be adding value to your customers and you will continue to be successful.
- Target non-consumption and non-consumers Great reference to Clayton Christensen's business teachings about providing 'good enough' alternatives for consumers who are not open to current offerings because they are priced out of reach.
- Minimize the chance for competing directly with entrenched players.
- Question your work regularly Be reflective on the activities you're doing and the value being added.
- Read your product out loud. Too often we spend a ton of time trying to make broad sweeping changes when all that is necessary is to make minor textual changes. "Too much focus on pixels, not on words." "Rewrite First, Redesign second since the design should fit the content"
- Err on the side of simple. Many projects fail because they try to do too much. The longer it takes to develop the less likely it will launch. Force people to get into the 'new zone'. People like to work on new things so keep them working on new projects. People lose interest and steam with extended proejcts. Resist the urge to do 'more' next time around.
- Invest in what DOESN'T change now and ten years from now. Invest in key core competencies such as customer service for FedEx and shipping for Amazon. Follow the things that people want
- Follow the chefs. When you look at the great Chefs, they succeed by giving it away. They give away the recipes and it comes back to them.
- Interruptions kill productivity. An obvious but great reminder that when you have close colleagues that continuously talk to you, you don't get much done. Essentially, the little interruptions break the work time down into smaller and smaller bits that make everyone less productive. Passive communication like campfire provides a more formalized way to communicate 'as available'.
- Roadmaps send you in the wrong direction. I disagree with the statement but agree with the premise that rolling an 18 month roadmap to customers will ultimately leave people disappointed. Quote: "It's ok to think about the future just don't write it down." This is just too much of a broad statement
- Do the right thing at the right time. Per the previous, post I agree that you need to make the right decision for the right time
- Be clear in crisis. Be open and honest with teh public when a mistake is made. "The web doesn't stop even though you do"
- Make tiny decisions. "When you make tiny decisions, you can't make big mistakes." Celebrate small launches and it is a boost for morale.
- Make it matter. If something doesn't matter, don't do it.
