It’s 2018
We’re almost a month into 2018 now… The first month of a new year... A year full of possibilities!
If you’re like many people, the year often starts with a New Year’s Resolution… A chance to think about something you’d like to improve, or change, in your personal or professional life. For those of you who know me well, you know I’m always about continually learning and improving myself. I don’t always succeed, but I’m always trying. I’m not trying to be perfect, but rather just better than I was yesterday.
A new year seems like a great time to set some new goals. But I don’t think it is.
In fact, I think the entire premise is flawed.
First of all, it forces me to wait until an arbitrary date on a calendar. Why should I wait? When I see something that I want to change about myself, the best time to do it would be a year ago. Or maybe two years ago. But the second best time is right now. There’s no reason to put it off when I know what I need to do.
Secondly, when I plan in years, I set goals with long time horizons. This means they tend to be large goals. I need to keep track of my progress. I need to ensure they’re realistic. In fact, the most common reason for participants failing their New Years’ Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%), while 33% didn’t keep track of their progress and a further 23% forgot about it. In a survey that came out at the end of 2014, about one in 10 respondents claimed they made too many resolutions.
Finally, neuroscience research suggests spreading resolutions out over time is the best approach. A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning.
Now, why do I mention this? Well, it’s because it’s the same thinking that an agile, or learning, organization exhibits.
Instead of waiting to make improvements, Scrum offers multiple times to reflect and make improvements. We call these the Daily Standup. Think that’s just for reporting on the status of your work? Nope. That’s a time to reflect on what you’re doing and identifying things that are slowing you down, so you can remove them so they don’t slow you down in the future. The Sprint Review is another opportunity to look at what you’re doing, and make sure you’re still on the right track. Hopefully, you’ve learnt something about your product and your customers as you’ve been working, so this is a perfect time to pivot, as the data becomes available. No need to just wait for the Retrospective.
How about setting long time horizons? The longer things take, the less pressure and importance they tend to have. What about setting small milestones, or breaking my improvements down, so I can see progress? And, more importantly, I can learn and pivot as shorter cycles provide me with better feedback, and better data. The same study I referenced above found that men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying “lose weight”).
And, consider focusing on, and setting the most important goal (or two) to right now, instead of trying to predict a year, or two, or five, into the future. Once I’ve achieved the most important goal, or arrived at a point of diminishing returns, or realized it’s not the most important priority, I can move on to the next highest priority. That way, I’m getting things done, as opposed to getting things started.
I’m certainly in favour improvements, and resolutions, and I’ll support anyone trying to make a positive change in their personal or professional life. Just as we’re trying to do with our work, I’d encourage you to thin-slice your resolutions, and be willing to pivot as you start on your journey in this wonderfully exciting new year, full of possibilities.