There’s a phrase in software called Premature Optimization.
It’s when you worry about the details before you have any of the broad strokes in place… and we’re all guilty of it.
I have the tendency to try to build elaborate plans and get excited about the tiny features we’re building for our customers before I even write a line of code. Being enthusiastic about your product or service is great but make sure you are making your plans a reality before you worry about the finishing touches.
So many plans change from day to day. We find out that some features won’t work or that some product enhancements don’t actually enhance at all. However, many times we don’t realize this until we’ve already started building the feature. If we had planned out the details of the feature then we would have wasted hours or days that could have been spent on useful features.
The solution to Premature Optimization is to get your hands dirty. Cancel your meetings, shred your planning documents and make something. It doesn’t have to be perfect but just make something.
How have you gotten past Premature Optimization?
