Hurry Up and Fail


I haven’t written very much lately, but I hope that will change soon. Lately my thoughts have turned to the different types of personalities we deal with on a daily basis. The most destructive is the impatient personality trait.

It begins with making only a minor compromise and ends with a product that is second rate. Some people are so focused on launching their web site, or releasing their product, that they cut corner after corner. I see it all the time and it’s stunning. I believe these people don’t realize they are cutting corners because each time they do it, it’s just a minor compromise. But after a few dozen times it really adds up, in a big way.

It goes like this:

“We don’t have good product photos right now, we’ll take good ones later.”

“We need this web site for our trade show next week, how fast can we launch?”

I could give endless examples, but you probably know the type of person I am talking about. The one that is always hurrying and tends to always need things tomorrow.

I’ve covered the hurry up aspect. Now, the failure is the result. This is especially true when it comes to building communities and customers online. The Internet is not a silver bullet. It typically takes years to build a vibrant online community and a lot of work. It’s not anything that happens in a month. The same holds true for almost everything in life. Patience is a virtue and the best things in life take years to develop.


3 responses to “Hurry Up and Fail”

  1. There is a difference between cutting features and cutting corners.

    Cutting a feature is different, because nobody outside of the development process knew that feature would be there, then when its added later, its like a bonus.

    Cutting corners is more like, leaving the feature in, but crippling it to get it out the door. Now you launch with a poorly implemented feature, and it will turn people off. Even an update later will likely not turn people back on to a feature.

    A site’s launch is paramount. The majority of the traffic seems to come in the first month (unless its a community site, and it continues to build, but if you dont have a steady flow at 30 days, its likely to not take off). Its that first impression that you have to show off what the site can do.

    So I see both Chris’ Point, and Mark’s … I just see a more clearly defined line between the two.

  2. Yeah, by cutting corners I definitely didn’t mean cutting features. I’d rather see a solid product that is missing one or two features than a half baked product that is only as strong as its weakest link.

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