“I just want this project to be done.”
The words echoed in my own ears… even as I was saying them. I thought about the book I wrote a few months ago. In order to sell more copies, I have to do some more marketing… but there was nothing pushing me to market the book… or sell more copies. The reason is because selling a bunch of copies of the book wasn’t really the success. The book was written to have a product here on this site available to readers. Success of the book was really to build credibility. By that metric, the book was a huge success!
The point of the project in the quote at the beginning was to create a revenue stream. Success of that project is to make money. Kind of a vague definition, right? I just thought it was a good idea to do. There’s a market for it. People are looking for the product. My partner has multiple connections to selling venues. Insert great financial reason to do a project here. Yet, I’m frustrated with the project. I’m frustrated because the project isn’t “making money” and therefore not successful.
But, the project will still meet the vague goal of making money. There’s no doubt about that… I don’t think. What I have failed to do is create a definition of success for this project. There’s nothing to measure the project’s success or failure against. How much money should it make? In what time should it make money? Is there a deadline for creation? I don’t know. I don’t know. No. Those are the question’s answers.
If you set a definition of success for the project, the focus becomes on what’s hindering that success. The frustration is easily seen as that issue and it can be addressed. Let’s start setting success for my project, shall we?
- Over the course of it’s life, the project will make twice as much money as time I’ve put into it. (Crap! How much time have I put in already?)
- The project is ready for release by the end of the summer 2012. (This is already a fail)
The idea was born May 16th. I wonder if there’s irony that it was the day before Ascension Day? I’m going ballsy here and saying I’ve spent half my time on this project. So, 20 hrs each week for 13 weeks (I’m subtracting 3 weeks for my “Dead End” journey. I hope that’s acceptable to you.) Total: 260 hours put into the project. Multiply by my “client rate” and we get $13,000. I did mention a partner, right? So, double that total to adjust for split profit. This project will net $26,000. Oddly, I’m certain it will.
Project release has failed… but that’s OK for my first “partner” project. There’s a good lesson here. Set a deadline. One of the things that would p*ss me off in corporate America was compromising a project in order to meet a deadline. Then, be reprimanded that corners were cut. It is difficult to set a deadline for a project you’ve never done before. But, why is my project not to market? Because a deadline wasn’t set for the piece that was farmed out.
The frustration on this project has subsided significantly. My financial success metric is still achievable and I learned a lesson from the deadline metric. This project is a win so far, actually. BUT, had the success been defined up front, this project would have been less frustrating… and maybe already to market.
Somewhere during your project, define what the success of that project is. It doesn’t have to be at the beginning, but it does have to be before the end. Of course, can a project end if you don’t know what success or failure is Projects are like water… they do flow most of the time. If you’re rigid about success, hold off on setting that definition until the entire project comes into focus. If you’re OK adjusting success, set that definition up front.
Today, take a minute to set or review what success means to that project that is frustrating you.
