4 Q's - Do More With Less

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Quintessential Thought

“Simplicity - the art of maximizing the amount of work not done - is essential.” Agile principle #10 is often confusing - why is doing less work important? It may seem counterintuitive, especially when we always feel the need to do more. Consider your activities last week. I'm sure there were some that created a lot of value, some that created moderate value, and some that created little to no value. The same applies to our products - in fact, most of what is built in products is not used (refer to the Standish report for more information). We tend to believe that success equals more output.

Our goal as product people should be to deliver as much value with as little output as possible.

How do we do this?

1. Say no.

2. Value learning.

3. Let your level of investment match your level of evidence.

Quotes

“Doing less is not being lazy. Don't give in to a culture that values personal sacrifice over personal productivity.” - Tim Ferriss

“80% of value is achieved with the first 20% of effort.” - Pareto principle

“The more you know, the less you need.” - Yvon Chouinard

Quick Step

Focus on an area you want to improve - your product, the activities on your calendar, etc. Then use a tool called ecocycle planning to map out where you want to invest more or less. Take action.

Question

What’s the most impactful thing you’ve done this past year? How can you do more of things like that?

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