“As expected, everything went differently.”
I think this expression - a translation of the Dutch phrase: “zoals verwacht ging alles anders” - captures an idea that is at the heart of agility.
Expect change. Be ready for it.
With every small improvement I’m considering how much resistance to change the method of implementing this improvement builds in.
Example: A common pitfall in Asana is adding rules to Project templates.
Extensive article on good practice for project templates: Leveraging project templates - a deep dive
Adding rules to project templates means that every time a new project is created, the automation is duplicated.
And then a couple of months later you’ve found the automation can be significantly improved. However, by that time there are 20+ projects that have this automation embedded.
So what now?
Changing all projects one by one?
Hell no!
Accepting that new automation in new projects work differently from existing projects?
Well that’s confusing.
Which often leads to:
“What a mess, I’m too busy so I’m just not going to bother.”
And then you’re stuck with it. And every new project created from this template builds in more resistance to change.
Standardisation should be a about creating a baseline for continuous improvement. It should allow for changes, and evaluating the impact of improvements.
“Sure, but we thought long and hard about this standardisation, and from now on this is the way.
We’ve determined this is the best way, it’s final, and nothing is going to change.”
Of course you have. I heard it before. And shortly after there will be a final 1.1 version…
Alternatively, you’re accepting that you’re satisfied with moving towards stagnation.
Don’t make it harder to change and improve.
This is why I advise not to add rules to project templates unless they are in a bundle, as bundles allow pushing rule updates to ALL projects that have this bundle.
“When faced with two or more alternatives that deliver roughly the same value, take the path that makes future change easier” - Dave Thomas (co-author of the Manifesto for agile software development)
And even if you choose not to change, you’ll never regret having an easy option to do so.
Are you ready for things to go differently?
Jan-Rienk - Asana Expert @ Improving Every Day