This article is continued from Part 1: Ready? Go! Tweak.

Let’s understand the “Ready? Go! Tweak.” concept a little more.

In almost all cases, it’s better to start a race ahead of your opponents. When you’re ahead, you have the breathing room to make mistakes and improve, while still remaining in the lead. But how do you actually start ahead of the pack? It’s simple:

Go before you’re set.

That’s the whole concept of “Ready? Go! Tweak.” summed up in a few words. It’s the idea of going live with the best point-in-time information and also with the understanding of the potential risk of launching with reduced planning. You don’t want to hang onto a project for too long since stalling could be far too damaging in the long run.

While we’re not debating whether planning is necessary in order to succeed (there’s no doubt it is), we need to discuss the extent of the planning required to succeed.

“I don’t think about risks much. I just do what I want to do. If you gotta go, you gotta go.”
–Lillian Carter

Is it necessary to plan out each and every stage of the project in extreme detail in order for you to succeed? If so, than this concept isn’t quite what you’re looking for. If you’re able to adopt the “do it first, tweak it later” philosophy, then “Ready? Go! Tweak.” is right for you. And you just might find yourself with a huge advantage later on. You would have planned less during the initial stages of the project, but overall, you were able to get instantaneous feedback and finalize your plans along the way; a process I call: Spot Planning.

Spot Planning

Spot Planning is the process of creating plans and making decisions concurrent to launch. It’s on-the-spot decision making as opposed to pre-planning. It gives you the flexibility of deciding on-the-go without stalling or disrupting progress. The key to this is the effectiveness of the spot planners.

Spot planners are able to:

Do any of those characteristics describe you? I hope so!

Tweaking Performance One Shot at a Time

Let’s go through another example to reinforce the idea behind tweaking. Imagine that you’re brand new to archery and you’re taken out to a controlled shooting environment. The instructor will give you a prize if you can hit the target. Then you’re given two options:

Option 1: You have 1 arrow, so you must aim carefully before you shoot. Once you’ve shot that single arrow, it’s gone! Boom! Bye, bye! So in order to succeed, you’ll probably want to take as much time as you’d like to make sure the shot goes as planned.

Option 2: You have 100 arrows, but you’re not allowed to aim as carefully before you shoot. Instead, you’re only allowed to shoot and tweak your performance after every shot. In essence, you’ll be continually improving with each arrow fired. By the 100th shot, you’ll be more accustomed to the angles, environment, wind and other factors. Odds are better that you’ll hit the target with 100 chances than with only one.

“Each trial brings progression, and only through progression will success be born.”
–Ronnie Nijmeh

In reality, you may not be given 100 chances to succeed, but the key point is that there’s an opportunity for trial and error in most business and personal experiences. So use these opportunities wisely!

The importance of tweaking your idea, product, or service each time around can’t be stressed enough. Did it work the first time around? If so, you know what may work in the future. If not, find out what needs improving, tweak it, then try again.

Perfectionism

You can’t always be perfect. You can’t always write the perfect report, have the perfect product, or simply “be” perfect. You’re prone to make mistakes and have flaws (whether major or minor). But that shouldn’t stop you! Acknowledge that you can’t always be perfect and use the effort to learn, grow and adapt.

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
–Thomas A. Edison

If you prolong the planning stage in search of “that perfect ending” or “that perfect feature” you won’t be progressing on to new levels of success. And if only you’re willing to let go, you may realize just how close you are to success! Parents, doesn’t this sound familiar (perhaps when your child moves away for the first time)?

Tough Questions

It should be noted that not all initiatives should utilize the “Ready? Go! Tweak.” technique. I wouldn’t say that a car company could “tweak” their faulty brakes after it’s been released to the public. Nor would you want to experiment in an already established and competitive market.

So ask yourself:

In your business, project or venture, is it possible to begin after the minimum amount of planning? What are the negative effects of doing so? Will you be slingshot into the lead if you use the “Ready? Go! Tweak.” and “Spot Planning” techniques? Are you able to afford making mistakes or deferring decisions until after the launch date? Are you working with a smaller, more adaptable team?

If you’re in a position to launch with the minimal amount of planning and are willing to tinker along the way, you just might find yourself in first place when all is said and done. Can you do it?