From Idea to Done

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” — Zig Ziglar

Ready. Fire. Aim.   This is one of earliest mantras I learned at Microsoft.

And one of my managers was famous for always saying, “Ship it!”

So “Ship it!” I did.  I learned to chunk big, epic things, down into smaller, faster things.

And yet, still accrue to something bigger, better, and lead to breakthroughs.

When you can go from idea to done, you change your game, in more ways than one.

Speed is an incredible advantage.

It helps you create momentum, stay light, and stay agile.

When things backup, including your mind, you slow down.

You get bogged down.  You feel burdened.  Your psychic weight grows heavier.

And then chaos ensues.  And when your mind is chaotic, your world is chaotic.

But when you can zip through things, things feel fresh.  It’s easier to stay focused.

And fast is fun!

In this article, I want to walk through a few examples of going from idea to done as a seed to help you figure out your own model for going from idea to done.

When you go from idea to done, you’ll find a brand new world opens up as you look at your world in brand new ways.

Think in Fast Loops

Embrace ‘Fast Loops’ Thinking

Mentally, focus on ‘Fast Loops,’ where you move swiftly from idea to completion.

Consider small ‘Learning Loops’ and larger ‘Execution Loops’ as needed.

Break tasks into clear categories: Draft, Experiment, Demo, and more.

Think in stages and versions (V1, V2, V3) for continuous improvement.

Prioritize value—experimentation is key to challenging assumptions and finding what truly matters.

Effective planning ensures your progress is meaningful.

This can help you iterate more, plan less, and use progress as a path of continuous improvement.

But the most important thing is that your smaller fast loops, accrue to something useful.

Value is the ultimate short cut.

And experimenting fast is how you breakthrough assumptions and learn what’s valued.

Think in Terms of a Path of Progression

Thinking in terms of a “Path of Progression” means envisioning the developmental stages or iterations that your idea can undergo as it evolves and grows. It’s a way to approach the expansion and refinement of an idea or project systematically.

For example, if your idea is to share knowledge on a particular topic, your Path of Progression might look like this:

1. Blog Post: Start with a simple blog post to introduce your idea or concept. It’s a quick and accessible way to communicate your thoughts.
2. Featured Article: As your idea gains traction, you might expand it into a more detailed and comprehensive article. This could be published on reputable websites or platforms to reach a broader audience.
3. PDF Guide: To provide even more value, you can turn your article into a downloadable PDF guide. This allows readers to access and reference your content conveniently.
4. Book: If your idea continues to resonate with an audience and you have more to say, consider turning it into a book. A book offers a deeper exploration of your concept and can establish you as an authority in your field.
5. Course: For those who want to delve even deeper into your idea, create an online course. This provides a structured learning experience and offers practical applications of your concept.
6. Experience or Event: To bring your idea to life in a tangible way, consider hosting workshops, seminars, or events. This allows for direct interaction with your audience and the opportunity to create a community around your idea.

By thinking in terms of this progression, you can adapt your idea to different formats and levels of complexity while continuously adding value. It also allows you to cater to different audiences and their varying needs, ensuring that your idea remains relevant and accessible throughout its evolution.

Incrementally Render Your Vision

“Incrementally Rendering Your Vision” is a concept that emphasizes building and developing your ideas or projects in stages, starting with the most fundamental elements and gradually adding complexity and detail.

This approach aligns with the concept of a “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP), which focuses on creating the simplest version of a product or solution that delivers value to users.

Here’s how it works:

1. Start with the Bone: Begin with the core, essential components of your idea or project. These are the foundational elements that are absolutely necessary for your concept to function. Think of them as the “skeleton” or “bone” of your project. By starting here, you establish the basic structure and purpose of your idea.
2. Add the Meat and Flesh: Once the core elements are in place and functioning, you can begin to add more substance and detail to your project. This is where you “flesh out” your concept by incorporating additional features, content, or complexity. These elements are important for enhancing the user experience and providing a more comprehensive solution.
3. Capture the Bare Essence: Throughout the development process, it’s crucial to maintain a clear understanding of the core essence of your idea. This means focusing on the value it provides to users and ensuring that this value is preserved as you add complexity. By capturing the “bare essence,” you prevent feature creep and maintain a user-centered approach.
4. Evolve and Pivot: As you incrementally render your vision, you have the flexibility to evolve and pivot based on feedback and changing circumstances. If your core idea remains strong and valuable, you can make adjustments and refinements to better meet user needs or market demands. Alternatively, if you discover that your initial concept needs a significant shift, you can pivot in a new direction without being heavily invested in unnecessary features.

The concept of “Incrementally Rendering Your Vision” combined with the “Minimum Viable Product” approach is a pragmatic way to develop ideas and projects. It encourages a focus on delivering value early in the development process, which can lead to quicker feedback, better user engagement, and more efficient use of resources.

By starting with the bone and gradually adding the meat and flesh, you build a strong foundation for your project while maintaining adaptability and responsiveness to change.

Work Backwards and Work Your Way Forward

“Working Backwards” is a strategic approach where you begin a project or problem-solving process by first defining your end goal or desired outcome and then work your way backward to identify the steps needed to reach that goal.

It’s a method used to ensure that the end result aligns with your vision and objectives.

While Stephen Covey’s “Begin with the End in Mind” is a related concept, there are additional perspectives and practical applications:

1. Amazon’s Approach: Amazon is known for its “Working Backwards” process in product development. Teams start by writing a press release and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document for a product before any coding or implementation begins. This forces them to clarify the product’s value proposition, benefits, and user experience from the outset. It helps ensure that the product aligns with customer needs and business objectives.
2. Benefits of Working Backwards:
   • Clarity: It provides a clear vision of what success looks like.
   • Alignment: It aligns efforts with strategic goals and customer needs.
   • Simplicity: It simplifies complex projects by breaking them into manageable steps.
   • Risk Mitigation: It helps identify potential obstacles and challenges early.
   • Efficiency: It minimizes wasted effort on activities that don’t contribute to the end goal.
3. Working Your Way Forward: Once you’ve defined the end goal and the steps needed to achieve it by working backward, you can then proceed step by step in a logical and efficient manner. Each step should build on the previous one, ensuring a smooth progression toward the desired outcome.
4. Iterative Process: “Working Backwards” often involves iterations. As you move forward, you may discover new insights, encounter unexpected challenges, or receive feedback that prompts adjustments to your plan. This iterative approach allows for flexibility while staying focused on the ultimate goal.
5. Customer-Centric: Amazon’s approach emphasizes customer-centric thinking. By defining the customer experience and value proposition first, teams are more likely to create products and services that resonate with customers.

“Working Backwards” is a strategic approach that helps ensure alignment with goals, clarity of vision, and efficient project execution. It encourages a customer-centric mindset and is particularly useful for complex projects and product development where success depends on a well-defined and customer-focused end result.

Think in Terms of Accrue to Something More

Seth Godin writes blog posts that accrue to books.

A group I was in at Microsoft operated at the “enterprise wide” level.

We would focus on big challenges and big changes.  We would dream big, start small.

What I found was that if you didn’t start with a vision for bigger value, all the small stuff fractured energy and effort.

This isn’t chump change.  We’re talking millions of dollars of value, and sometimes, more.

Just like you don’t wake up one day on the top of Mt. Everest, big value takes vision.

And this often means the small parts need to hang together or integrate with the larger goal.

Dream big, start small.

Value is the Ultimate Shortcut

When is your idea done?  This can be the tough part to solve for.  But I’ll share my examples.

If you keep a relentless focus on value, you’ll find surprising paths to fruition.

Simple things should remain simple; avoid unnecessary complexity that can dilute your vision.

Remember, value is your compass in this journey—it guides you toward meaningful progress.

The main idea is this: Keep simple things simple; keep things “right sized”; avoid unnecessary complexity that can dilute your vision.

And be careful how you add steps or things that don’t add value.

Value is the ultimate shortcut.

Always was, and always will be.

20-Minute Sprints at Microsoft

When a friend joined the product group, I asked him what’s the biggest challenge?

He said he had to find a way to work in 20-minute chunks of time.  He said, it was easy to let things pile up, and say, “I’ll do it later.”

But then later there’s more things to do, and it was a failed strategy.

Before he thought he could only work on something if he had a big enough block of time.  But he didn’t get big blocks of time anymore.  He was constantly on the go.

And it was these short blocks of time between meetings where he had to make progress, or actually finish things, so he could stay on top of things.

It was a mindset shift, and when shift happens, great ideas come with it.

This one simple idea long ago inspired me to break big things down into smaller chunks of time and either make progress, or, better yet, actually finish them.

Writing Blog Posts in 20-Minute Sprints

I’ve had ideas small and large.  Some ideas are worth sharing.  Some ideas are worth executing.  Some ideas, it’s just too early to tell.

I learned that any idea can be improved when you write about it.

Whether you share it with anybody other than yourself, is a separate issue.

If you ever saw the sheer volume of articles I have that I haven’t shipped, you’d be spellbound.

Especially, since I already shipped a few thousand articles from productivity to leadership to innovation to deep personal growth.

One day at Microsoft, I woke up.

I realized I was saying the same thing multiple times.  So I wrote a canned email I used, and whenever I needed it, I could quickly tailor it.

Soon, I realized that I was saying a lot of repetitive things, because there were a lot of repetitive questions.

I then realize I could share things broader on a blog.

And the beauty then is, maybe I help people, somehow, in ways I can’t predict.

So I started the habit of writing blog posts in 20-Minute Sprints.  It took longer than emails because I would have to find images or I would end up wordsmithing some things, and it was just a different process, then fire up an email, crank through it, and ship it.

But I tried to keep it as lightweight as possible.  I used the 80/20 rule.  It’s very easy to slip into diminishing returns.  More is rarely better.  More is often, just more.

And what I found was that I could share some pretty deep ideas and some pretty useful things in 20-Minute Sprints.

How Scott Adams Goes from Idea to Done

If you know Scott Adams, he’s the guy behind Dilbert.   Long ago, he realized success is a numbers game.

So he focused on “speed of art.”

He wanted to be able to quickly go from idea to done with his comic strip.

He wanted to very quickly run through end-to-end loops from having a concept to putting it on paper and testing it.

This helped him cycle through ideas faster.

This helped him experiment and learn more.

He could experiment with his ideas, and he could experiment with his process.

And that’s the key.  When you experiment with your process, you find ways to optimize or transform it.

Transformation is where your greatest gains come from.

When you change your mental model, or your paradigms, or your identity habits, you change everything.

Your world changes, when you change.

How Hugh McCleod Goes from Idea to Done

Hugh MacLeod, the artist behind Gaping Void, and many through provoking images, uses speed to “do more art.”

I had known his art because it hung on various doors and walls around Microsoft.

There’s a classic image of the blue monster that helped shape the culture of Microsoft.

It inspired us to use the phrase, “Change the world or go home.”

It was simple.  It was sticky. It was brilliant.

In one of my meetings, I got to see Hugh in action.  I wondered how he worked.  I always wonder how people do that thing they do.

And, here he was, Hugh doing that thing he does.

He had a stack of blank business cards.  He had pens in hand.  And as people shared ideas, I watched him draw.

Fast, and fluid.  I could see him get an idea, as different people spoke, and there it was:

From idea to done.

And the beauty of this, is he had lots of sketches.  A full stack.  All these visual notes would remind him of big ideas.

They were raw, they were real, and they were ready to be processed further, as his mind would noodle on what he learned.

It was just a piece of his process, but it was an important one.

There are always mini-loops inside of bigger loops.

From Idea to Done in the Small

I focused on fast emails.  I didn’t want to keep open loops.  I didn’t want them on my mind or in my inbox.

So I would respond quickly and this trained my brain to figure out what’s relevant, what’s useful, what’s valuable faster.

Realistically, sometimes the answer would be, I’ll get back to you on that (it’s great to acknowledge people, so they don’t have to loop in their mind, whether I got it.)

But in general, I would try to satisfice my way through my inbox and share ideas or starts or steps to get things going, get unblocked or change the game.

I focused on fast articles.  This was more of a challenge, but what I learned is that working on your blog is working on you.  When you try to share an idea, it makes you look at it in a different way.

The funniest pattern to me is when I would bump into people in the halls that would suddenly remember, oh yeah, I owe you an email.

And all I’m thinking is, please don’t let that be what’s on your mind.

Keep your mind clear, and your inbox, too.

From Idea to Done in the Large

“Idea to Done in the Large” is the process of taking a concept, whether it’s a small idea or a grand vision, and systematically transforming it into a tangible result, which could be a large-scale project, program, or initiative.

This approach involves breaking down the idea into manageable components and using various techniques to facilitate progress. Here’s how you can go from an idea to a substantial accomplishment:

1. Chunking Down: Start by breaking the overarching idea into smaller, more manageable pieces or components. These could represent different aspects or phases of the project. The goal is to make the project less overwhelming and more approachable.
2. Fast Loops: Adopt an agile mindset by working in fast loops or iterations. This involves setting short-term goals, accomplishing them quickly, and then moving on to the next set of tasks. It allows for regular assessment, adaptation, and rapid progress.
3. Milestones: Establish key milestones or checkpoints along the way. Milestones are significant achievements that mark progress toward the larger goal. They provide a sense of accomplishment and help ensure the project stays on track.
4. User Stories: If applicable, break the project into user stories, especially if it involves software development or user-centric initiatives. User stories define specific features or functionalities from the user’s perspective, making it easier to prioritize and implement them iteratively.
5. Proof of Concept (PoC): Consider starting with a proof of concept to validate the feasibility of your idea. A PoC is a small-scale experiment or prototype that demonstrates the concept’s viability before committing to a full-scale project.
6. Pilot Phase: If the idea is substantial, consider running a pilot phase to test it in a controlled environment with a limited audience. This allows you to gather feedback, refine the concept, and identify potential challenges before rolling it out on a larger scale.
7. Production: Once the concept has been validated through PoC and pilot phases, proceed to full production or implementation. This phase involves scaling up and delivering the project to a broader audience or user base.
8. Iterate: Continuously iterate and improve upon the project. Collect feedback, analyze performance, and make necessary adjustments to enhance the results. The iterative approach ensures that the project remains aligned with changing requirements and objectives.
9. Feedback Loops: Establish feedback loops with stakeholders, team members, and end-users throughout the entire process. Regular feedback helps you make informed decisions and refine the project based on real-world insights.

“Idea to Done in the Large” encourages a structured, adaptive, and iterative approach to project management and execution.

It acknowledges that even large-scale projects can benefit from breaking them into smaller, more manageable pieces, working in fast loops, and leveraging milestones and feedback to ensure successful outcomes.

Refine, Adapt, and Innovate

We refine, adapt, and innovate, driven by feedback and fueled by our desire to improve.

In the journey from idea to accomplishment, we blend strategy, agility, and persistence.

We conquer challenges incrementally by breaking complex ideas into manageable steps.

We use fast loos to keep us adaptable and focused on progress, while we use milestones to guide us in large projects.

User stories prioritize user-friendly outcomes, and proof of concept phases validate daring endeavors.

Production is not the end but a point in our iterative journey, driven by feedback and a desire to improve.

We use feedback loops connect us to stakeholders and real-world insights.

Our audacious ideas can become reality through human ingenuity.

Embrace your journeys with confidence, one step, one milestone at a time, from idea to done.

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