Activity != productivity.
Start-up series.
During a stint at a previous start-up company - which ultimately, failed - I learnt a number of extremely important lessons.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to attempt to share my experiences in the hope that others will learn from our mistakes.
Some of these posts will be hard to write, after all, it's my company that failed due to another person, but I will endeavor to be as unbiased and objective as possible.
One of the most important lessons I've learnt from working with other people, and most importantly, co-founders, is that activity doesn't equate to productivity.
Fruitless efforts & hamsters.
Have you ever noticed how some people are always working hard, and yet, they never meet their deadlines?
The usual excuse is that it's a fruitless effort with an impossible deadline. This may indeed be true in some edge cases, but all risks can be mitigated.
If mitigation is handled early and effectively enough, there is no reason why you need to work through lunch, weekends, nights and yet, still not meet the deadline.
The best example of activity is asking the most successful and conversely, the least but yet equally talented successful persons, you know, how hard do they work? And they will both tell you the exact same answer.
They both work extremely hard.
But why is this? And if this is true, why are they producing different qualities of work?
Observe. The hamster on a wheel principal.
Don't confuse activity with productivity.
No matter how fast the hamster runs, he isn't going to move.
Similarly, no matter how much activity you put into something, it doesn't mean you're really getting anywhere or producing anything of value.
A heroic amount of effort and activity, and no productivity.
To overcome this I've found, where it's required, to split your tasks into active and circumstance.
Active tasks generally benefit in the long term, they're the plans you make in order to meet milestones and the deadline.
Most often the active tasks, when done right, will mitigate any circumstance tasks. In order for you to concentrate successfully on the active tasks, you need to be trusted.
Active tasks pay off in the long term, rather than *right now* - which can confuse some clients without proper management - therefore the client won't see much progress until you're both deep into the project life cycle.
Circumstance tasks may benefit you right now, but they do not benefit yourself or the life span of the product in the long run.
They generally occur due to a panic of another person, a careless mistake, or short sighted requirements.
Also known as firefighting.