Home >
This week some of my co-workers got really excited by the "Done Manifesto." If you haven't read it yet, the manifesto is comprised of these 13 rules:
1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.
I disagree at a very gut-level with this manifesto for several reasons.
Before we get to that, a quick disclaimer: I love getting things done. I think it's important to quit procrastinating, and quick action is almost always preferred to excessive planning. The perfect is the enemy of the good, a good plan now is better than a great one tomorrow, and all that; I get it, and I agree.
What I don't agree with is the idea that inaction isn't just as valuable sometimes. Planning quite simply has to happen in most instances, and often planning occurs in ways that feel like inaction. Sometimes planning requires documentation, sometimes it requires meetings (often with people who talk more than you want to listen), and sometimes it requires simply pausing to think things through. "Failing to plan is planning to fail" is one of those very annoying truisms you should rarely repeat but often think about. A little planning goes along way, and this idea that we should all just jump in and get our hands dirty is admirable but can lead to a lot of wasted time.
At risk of belaboring the point, let's think about an example. Say you spend 10 minutes working on a project. The first two times you try it you fail, and the third time it works. Assuming you don't lose any additional time in the failures, this means you've spent 10 minutes getting to success. Now let's assume that if you'd spent 5 minutes planning, you might have succeeded on your first try. You'd be done in half the time, allowing you to go on and do other things. That's the whole point, right? Done is the engine of more? If you consistently fail, it's more like done is the engine of more of the same.
Now imagine the task was something like changing your oil for the first time. Like a good member of the cult of done, you'd just jump in there and pour oil down the first hole you found in the car, right? Of course not. Your car is expensive, and in this, failure doesn't count as done - it counts as the beginning of a very expensive journey. No one would ever just pour oil down the first hole they found - you'd probably wait until tomorrow, when you could get your friend (who's changed his own oil since he was 16) to come over and help. By waiting you suffer a long night of inaction, but save yourself weeks of expensive headache in the process.
The other (possibly bigger) part I disagree with is that "the point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done" and "done is the engine of more." Just reading it makes me feel like I've walked into some crazy objectivist wonderland, with Ayn Rand gleefully singing about how true producers shall inherit the earth. I'm here to tell you something important: living this way is crazy.
Getting things done, especially the right things, is incredibly satisfying, but waking up one day to realize you're a stressed-out workaholic at the age of 28 is not. Life requires balance. You'll be more productive, more creative, and more satisfied if you calm down and unplug every once in a while, even if it's once in a very long while.
This brings me to the title of the post: the real solution to the problem the cult of done attempts to address isn't more frantic action; it's learning not to over-commit. Quit telling people you can get 80 hours worth of work done in 40. Quit thinking it makes you a hero to out-produce your peers. Quit engaging in the hellish race for more, more, and even more output. Just quit. Like a smoker trying to kick nicotine this probably won't be easy, especially if you start to feel useless for under-performing compared to your previous self, but there are ways to get there, and the journey is a valuable one.
You might start by tracking yourself, and then implementing any one of the many different ways productivity experts have given us to manage our work throughout the years. Separate creative tasks that require focus and flow from those which can be handled in parallel. Schedule time in your calendar for these tasks so meetings can't over take them, but leave room for planning and meetings to occur. Get more sleep, and discipline yourself to follow a schedule that makes gives you time to complete the things that have to get done, but makes space for the rest of your life as well. Have a "rest of your life."
Stress is as much a killer of productivity as inaction. By learning to pace yourself you'll find that not only do you get more done, but the predictability of your work pace will make you more valuable to your employer. Most companies would rather have an employee they can rely on to get 45 hours of good work accomplished in one week than one who might do 80 or 20 depending on how burnt out he or she is at the time.
In conclusion, this manifesto is a good start but a little off the mark. To really get the most effective solution out of your time you're going to need to flounder in "inaction" a little while you plan, and you'll find that many of the concerns making the done manifesto so popular disappear when we stop over-tasking ourselves.
Tag Cloud
Podcasts & Screencasts
@InsideRIA on Twitter
Follow InsideRIA on Twitter
Facebook Application Development
I'm with you on what you are saying, but I think you're interpretation of the manifesto is subjective. When I read it, I felt no urgency, no pressure to be doing something all the time.
This manifesto for me means not to let perfection and procrastination get in the way of getting things done.
Sounds like your taking away the right things, then. For what it's worth, I have a lot of respect for Bre Prettis (co-author of the manifesto.)
I am smart and witty. I understand your post. I have this additional insight. I know what I am talking about more than you.
Good post RJ. I agree that finding balance in life is a far more important core commitment for most people than getting things done. That is why I have allocated only a limited amount of "power hours" to getting things done each week. The rest of the time I visit blood doner clinics and get rejected.
Also I think you have a real insight there about floundering inaction a bit. I find that this period of inaction can lead to more effective action rather than staying in perpetual motion all the time.
zedia is right. The manifesto does not mention that you have to work quickly or under pressure.
The only thing regarding time is #5, which is kind of true, how long does it take to test an idea and build a minimal prototype? It should take no more than two weeks ...
I peronally disagree with some of the points you agree with. I by no means consider myself any more authoritative but it seems to me developers can be charted along a continuum between perfectionist thinkers and negligent producers while both providing distinct business value. The manifesto author and commentors thus far seem to appreciate the merit of the latter but I fall far on the perfectionist end of the spectrum and would like to offer a counterpoint:
These irk me. Regarding #5 who in life hasn't experienced that things worthwhile are worth waiting for? I'm not saying don't do anything but to give up on your startup or marriage or anything at all hard because you also have a demanding 9 to 5 and can't easily give it your undivided attention sounds looney to me. I may have misunderstood what was being conveyed however.
#7 is a pet peeve of mine for a couple reasons. There's definitely a time to clean the slate and consider a fresh approach but if you do that every time you miss out on timeless agile iterational principles and end up reinventing the wheel consistently. What's more if you practice #4 and don't spend the effort to comprehend your tools (language or framework or paradigms or whatever) you're bound to reinvent solutions they handle both cleaner and more maintainably.
And maintenance is my other issue with #7. What is anybody intentionally spending time on that you don't care what happens with it in 6 months? Statistically I haven't ended up maintaining my own code but somebody has and seriously how pessimistic is it to not care about your project up front because it's probably just gonna fizzle out anways?
And last is the benefit of up front design. Flex and Rails are the quintessence of this to me. I don't pretend that I can architect to that extent but these are shining examples where significant planning happens before and between source control. I'm not saying it's not iterational either. From what I've heard Flex 1.5 wasn't nearly the doll that Gumbo is today. And that's okay. But they planned then executed then adjusted and over again. Same with Flash 8 to Flash 9 and probably prior increments I didn't experience.
I'm not suggesting that "producers" change their spots although moderation is good. Just that we identify and play on each others' strengths (especially managers) and not push unilateral agendas like dogma. Great writing as usual RJ and you're dead on about overcommiting. I wish I could find a good balance with that.
Isn't this "manifesto" just one of those things that some people think is a good idea ignoring the fact that the suggestions will not apply to everyone in the same way?
Personally, I believe in planning ahead for a project. Not extensive planning mind you since chances are things will change as the project progresses but at least an idea of where to start. But some people may be comfortable with just jumping in and I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is people who suggest if I don't do it their way then I'm doing it wrong.
I never throw anything away. I don't always like rewriting code when I can just copy and paste from a previous project. Or even better, make a reusable framework out of it if I use it a lot.
"4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it."
Does this mean I can pretend I can write code in PHP, ASP.net, Java and Ruby, demand a huge salary increase and attempt to complete projects that I wouldn't even know how to start? Can I point to this manifesto when I get fired? I'm sorry, pretending to know is nowhere near the same as actually knowing. Anyone who is highly competent with their chosen field should be insulted by such a statement.
"5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it."
But what if a project is delayed by more than a week by actions outside your control? Such as someone late in approving/rejecting a proposal or milestone? "Here's that approval you've been waiting on. Go ahead and start that project." "Sorry, it's been more than a week. I'm not going to work on that anymore." You'd be so fired.
Although I do agree with some ideas in the manifesto, it seems to be written for people who run the company or are freelancers. As an employee a great deal of what I do is determined by the owner of the company. If he's willing to run his company the way he wants despite it going against the manifesto's ideals then is he wrong?
I think not.
My wife calls me "Mr. Right Now", because I do what I can immediately. On the other hand, I believe in aiming before shooting.
Moderation in all things, including moderation.
Good post. Good discussion.
Mike
RJ, thanks for your constructive observations on the Done manifesto. I agree that there are aspects of the tenets that are difficult to accept without serious consideration. On the point of planning, I don't read anything in the manifesto that suggests you shouldn't plan your activities. Is analyzing a problem and creating a plan to solve it not getting something done? Also, I see nothing in the manifesto that suggests frantic overcommitment need be part of actionable tasks. Rather, one should commit to getting something done in one week. If the task cannot be achieved in one week with a reasonable allocation of effort, the task is too large. Create smaller objectives and get them done.
You are vastly over-thinking this- the point is to focus on completing tasks, not to cut corners. There was an element of humor in the list to make the point. Taking every step literally is just silly.
I subscribe to the "Cult of Done" philosophy, I plan religiously and still get a lot done. Time management is not necessarily the entire point of the manifesto, it's more about attitude.