Create more results from less energy: fine tuning your ratio of process to results.

aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 22:23:00 -0700

When you hone a knife, you’re sharpening it by inflicting friction on the dull edges.

I’ve been honing my process for delivering branding and marketing work for almost ten years. It’s never been as complex as the first day I used it. The process has been honed into a smarter, simpler tool.

When we’re operating from a fearful mindset, we often judge something’s effectiveness by its “weight”. While in this mindset, effectiveness is confused with our ability to safely hide behind it.

I realize now that when I struck out to develop my own business, the process was something I wanted to hide behind. In Michael Gerber’s excellent book The E-Myth, Gerber urges entrepreneurs to create processes. I warped that concept to develop of my process into something formal enough to offset the risk of working with a new company. In reality, I was placing formalities in between myself and the successful track record I wanted to establish.

Writers understand this. If you can’t write a good book, you can at least write a long one. But they have editors. Unfortunately, many of our business processes will forever be a first draft: too many words, a lack of focus, and after some time even the authors have difficulty understanding the meaning.

Massive functional specs fall prey to change and misunderstandings. I’ve found since I began my business that my process has evolved from trying to understand everything before beginning work to having a general idea and iterating solutions. This delivers better results because:

It’s more collaborative.
It forces you to overcome a fear of criticism.
People are better at defining things by what they’re not than by answering questions about what they are.

There are two added benefits. The first is flexibility. Instead of trying to impose my systematic theory of design on a 2 week project, I can keep sane and work within parameters. The second is happiness. I’m assuming you’re happier being authentic. As you cut away formality, you find what falls on the floor doesn’t justify the time is sucks from doing what you’re good at.

Aaron Gerdes: Tag planning

Create more results from less energy: fine tuning your ratio of process to results.