Recently, a curious young man asked me about one of the chapters in my book! To my surprise, he was particularly interested in the topics of tactics and strategy. This led me into a self-critical role and resulted in the reflections below.
Crafting Ideal Plans
A few years ago, while writing my book Data Driven Transformation, my mind was filled with designing plans and strategies for large corporations and their effective implementation despite the “headwinds.” That’s why I devoted considerable space in the book to discussing these topics. I believed that the key to success was effective management of tactical actions because every company, even if it doesn’t communicate its explicit strategy, has its own plan of action.
In my book, I focused on projects, technology, and my passion for data. Product owners and various levels of agreement and alignment among them played a crucial role, leading to the organization’s flexible adaptation to strategy execution. I was confident about flexibility, but I would say—with a great degree of certainty.
Evolution
Is all of this still relevant today, especially when I’m immersed in a world of many small, but dynamic startup projects?
First and foremost, I would strongly emphasize that one should not fear discarding what has been recently created. Doesn’t this seem counterproductive? Quite the opposite. The process of adapting to customer needs is an ongoing development. There’s no room for clairvoyants who immediately see the ideal solution. It’s an evolutionary process that overwrites previous results.
Rewriting
In the world of startups, evolution is the norm. Everything undergoes evolution—business models, marketing strategies, architecture, applications. What arrives from established corporations in Germany, France, or the USA is largely a proven model. Many entrepreneurs believe that by tackling innovative topics, they will succeed on the first try and immediately become significant players, but the truth is that newly created projects must evolve before they mature and are accepted by their audience.
A Trash Bin Full of Ideas
Why do so many founders (perhaps even all of them) complain that they have to discard 90% of their attempts and developments because they were “mistakes”? Yes, they were mistakes, but the process itself was correct. So, what should one do to effectively reach the goal? One must accept that many efforts will be discarded, but lessons will remain. One must have an arsenal of energy, money, and time for further attempts. A cowboy with one bullet in his gun shouldn’t walk into a bar, as he’s unlikely to walk out alive. Conditions for rapid test repetitions should be created; “fail fast”—we’ve all heard this—but few of us have embraced it.
To avoid more failures, I still recommend the book 😉
Author: Mariusz Jażdżyk
