Once in a while, I don’t follow my own advice and do some dumb shit.
In this sprint, I framed my definition of done for a business goal in terms of expected results rather than the work shipped—a rookie mistake.
I tell my students never to define the definition of done in a way where the result is dependent on other people. The definition of done should only be dependent on you.
But here I am, making one of the most common mistakes people make when planning a sprint.
An example of a problematic definition of done
We recently launched an affiliate program in my main business (not the Monthly Method). It’s time to sign up the affiliates.
“Sign up 10 affiliates” is the definition of done I came up with. You can already see the problem. I’m not 100% in control of how many people sign up. I can reach out to people. I can talk to business owners. I can advertise our affiliate program on different platforms. But deciding to sign up to be an affiliate – that’s their decision, not mine. “Introduce our program to 200 potential affiliates” would’ve been a much better definition of done for this goal.
Definition of done: Outcome vs. Work Required
I decided not to let this mistake go to waste and observe how different the sprint feels when the definition of done depends on the outcome rather than the work shipped.
Increased state of panic
Given that the sprints are short (3 weeks in my case), there is this constant state of panic. “I’m not at 10 affiliates yet! I’m running out of time.” And since I’m not fully in control of achieving this goal, there is a constant state of anxiety that something will go wrong.
Shady shortcuts
Because of the overwhelming state of panic, there is a desire to take shady shortcuts. In a calm state of mind, I would never even consider doing the things that can impact my reputation in the long term. But the standards start dropping when you feel like your back is pushed against the wall. Because I’m aware of what’s happening, I’ve been able to catch myself and not do the things I will later regret. But if someone is not aware of why they are feeling so much pressure, like they are in a life-or-death situation, they can take shortcuts that can impact their life negatively in the long term.
Reduced productivity
When I feel rushed and panicked, it takes a toll on me. I get exhausted quickly. Rush and panic are the thefts of productive energy.
Feel like a loser all the time
The problem with a result-based goal is that you feel like a loser till you achieve it. So even if you achieve the goal during a 3-week sprint, you feel like a loser for 2 weeks and 6 days. Only on the final day of the sprint, when you achieve this outcome, do you feel good.
Would you want to live in a climate where it rains for 3 weeks and then there’s perfect weather for 1 day? And then the misery repeats. Why create this sort of climate in our own emotional life?
No satisfaction in daily work
Seeing incremental progress daily is one of the things that makes work satisfactory. It’s extremely hard to keep going when you don’t see this daily progress. That’s why framing goals in terms of work shipped is more rewarding because you see progress the moment you get some chunk of work done. There is no delay. You don’t need to wait for others to appreciate and react to your work.
When working for an outcome-based goal, you do the work, but you are never sure if it’s moving you forward or not. I’ve sent 100 cold emails. Will it bring me my 10 affiliates? Who knows! Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.
Want to escape and change the goal and strategy
Because of the daily panic and fear of not achieving my goal, I constantly want to sabotage my long-term strategy and change the goal.
“Affiliate marketing won’t work for our business.”
“No one is doing it in our industry, so there might be a good reason for it.”
“I should switch to Facebook ads instead.”
These are the thoughts that run through my mind daily. These are stupid. How do I know it won’t work? I’ve only tried doing it for a week! It hasn’t been enough time to conclude that it’s a failed experiment. Who says Facebook ads would work better?
I’ve spent enough time considering this decision to go with affiliate marketing. In the first week of doing the work, I want to sabotage this strategy and switch to something else.
It reminds me of the weight loss attempts many of us go through. When we say “I want to lose 10kg” and then want to jump ship the first week.
Life with the proper definition of done
“He never expects results;
Thus he is never disappointed.
He is never disappointed;
Thus his spirit never grows old.”Lao Tzu – Tao Te Ching
This is how my life would feel if I had a proper definition of done.
“Introduce our affiliate program to 200 local businesses” is what I call a proper definition of done. It’s clear. I know when I’ll be done. And it’s 100% under my control.
I would decide on the types of businesses I want to reach out to, create a couple of email templates to test which one does better and start sending.
Every day, I would have a goal of how many businesses I want to contact.
I would be in no rush because I set a realistic goal.
I’ll be kind and respectful to other business owners. I’ll be okay with conversations taking some time. My messages won’t feel “graby” or “salesy” because I’m not rushing to get to a specific outcome as soon as possible. I can protect my reputation and build a solid foundation for future partnerships.
My days are calm. I can get in a rhythm. I can feel proud and productive at the end of the day because I hit my daily goal.
And when the sprint is done, I can be satisfied with my work. I will have some affiliates that sign up. Will it be 10? Who knows. But by the end of the sprint, I’ll learn so much from doing this outreach. My next sprint goals will be based on these insights. And the cold outreach next sprint will be way more effective. Incremental improvements.
But most importantly, I won’t be burned. No energy will be wasted on dealing with emotional stress imposed by the deadline for a goal outside our control. It’s not much different than setting a goal of having sunny weather for the next month. You can’t control it. It’s not up to you if it rains or not. But you have to deal with emotions that come from not hitting your goal every time it rains. You’ll be exhausted by the end of the month.
Creating without possessing,
Acting without expecting,
Guiding without interfering.Lao Tzu – Tao Te Ching
Definition of done: Questions to ask
- What does it look like when it’s done? (email sent, walls painted, video published)
- Is it objective? Can a person off the street look at your definition of done and tell with 100% certainty if you achieved it or not? (the first draft sent to the editor vs. write a good first draft. What is ‘good’? How will a random person off the street know if it’s good or not?)
- Are you the only person in control of getting it done? (get first 100 subscribers vs. publish 2 videos)
- Can it be fully completed by the end of the sprint? What if something comes up? Do you have a healthy margin of time to still hit this goal?
- What’s the minimum effective dose for the shipped work to have the result I want? (Do you really need to have social media presence to make your first sale?)
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