When starting a project, always do it in this order:
- Identify the Objective: Define what’s important. Literally write it out. Be as vague as you need to be. “This thing needs to be fast” and “We must get 15% market share” are both completely fine ways of stating what’s important, and will vary depending on the project.
- Identify the Source: Figure out how to measure those things objectively and accurately. Is it counting logs, counting orders, or receiving a report from a third-party?
- Set a Baseline: Start measuring and reporting on those things right now. Could be “0” if it’s a brand new initiative, and that’s fine. Just measure it and report on it.
- NOW talk about how to change those numbers.
It’s completely useless to spend time building something if you can’t, or don’t know how, to measure it’s effectiveness. You’ll end up spending a lot of time over-analyzing “feelings” or over-engineering a solution.
Mostly a reminder to myself.