MVP doesn't mean Most Valuable Player. Not anymore. Not in my new world.
These days, MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product, a simple solution that can be deployed quickly. It's not perfect. It is attainable. It's what you can produce right now to fill a need, to solve a problem. Feedback welcome.
This aiming for what's attainable is a new approach for me. Oh, I've tried it before. In fact, I'm a big fan of Anne Lamott's school of shitty first drafts. In theory. I've never been one to stop myself from over-editing. Overanalyzing. Over-thinking. To the point of paralysis. Because I have a problem with perfectionism. (Which, by the way, never leads to doing anything perfectly.)
Anyway, lately, I'm realizing perfect isn't the point—and reaching for it doesn't pay off. I'm learning this at work but I'm applying it at home. When I'm packing J's lunch, I ask myself a very corporate sort of question: What's the low-hanging fruit here? And I'll tell you: it's the fresh already chopped pineapple that I picked up at the EatingWell farmer's market (free giveaway from the test kitchen), the leftover lasagna that simply needs reheated. It's a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie that I made from a tube of Cookie Love batter.
It's good enough. Because, in the end, nobody cares about who played things best. Just get in the game. Focus on your best assets. Keep evolving the rest. Am I right?
Nic, you are indeed correct. The only thing that matters is to "ship early and ship often". This is probably a hackneyed phrase in the tech world but some more reading around MVP if you're interested:
ReplyDeleteEric Ries - The Lean Startup
http://theleanstartup.com/principles
Paul Graham - Y Combinator founder and generally eloquent tech guy:
http://paulgraham.com/startuplessons.html