Minimal viable product is superweapon for life
The superweapon that flexible methodologies have given us is iterativity and MVP. Working in short iterations allows you not to postpone risks and assumes readiness for changes at all stages. Despite the fact that we are talking about this only now, iterativity is embedded everywhere in system life. We divide a long-term dream into goals, goals into key results, results into tasks.
Then we work on the tasks in iterations of two weeks or a month. Such segments are called sprints in Scrum. At the end of each sprint, we either mark progress towards the result, or adjust actions. Small segments are understandable to the brain, and we do not lose sight of the image of the result. It is much easier to control such movement. Iteration is not just a mindless division of the plan into parts. At the end of each iteration, you should get something valuable for yourself so that the next iteration is more efficient. To do this, the MVP comes into play.
MVP stands for Minimal Viable Product. To understand the meaning of this approach, you need to turn to the history of its appearance. In the 2000s, many IT products were made with large budgets and deadlines. Just like the sites I wrote about above. Accordingly, there were big failures. Imagine a company creating some kind of website or service for millions of dollars, and in the end it does not pay off, because users simply do not need it. Money and time have been spent, there is no result, it’s sad.
Then in 2001, SyncDev founder Frank Robinson showed the Minimal Viable Product concept. He realized that a product without the features that users need to fail. Moreover, there should be a real confirmation from users that there is demand in the market, and people are willing to pay for it. Therefore, with the help of MVP, they proposed the concept of product development, when the exhaust is obtained with less effort and cost.
The essence is to give the user such value as soon as possible so that he pays. With the help of MVP, they organized this very iterative approach, where a product is developed almost at the same time and tested on consumers. As a result of the test, you can understand that you need a different functionality, or you need to quickly change the product vector. MVP is not a product, but a product development concept at the first stages that can be used in life.
One day my friend Lekha and I met a manufacturer of multicolored bricks. Then we were developing websites, and we had the idea of a business. Hear me out, we’ll make a website, set up advertising, orders will fly in. The supplier will deliver the brick, and we will receive money. The product is cool, there is demand on the Internet. They started doing it. We paid for the site, took bricks, photographed them, collected banners and took them to the construction market.
We spent money, time, ruined clothes and bent the bumper of Lehi’s car. Everything is ready, it remains only to launch advertising, and it’s time to pick up a house by the sea. The closer the launch was, the more I began to notice that our mood was fading, and we were postponing it due to minor problems. I began to wonder how in my right mind I was giving up the opportunity to earn money. I couldn’t admit it to myself for a long time, but then I did it. I just didn’t want to get a call so then I’d have to tell someone about the brick, trying to sell it.
I didn’t like this business and the product. I had no desire. You can ask me a question: so why didn’t you, so smart, know that right away? Why did you get into that? The thing is, I didn’t know. It seemed to me that it was time to get out of the comfort zone and earn money. I thought that when I started earning money, I would love it, but it was a conflict with my desires. Of course, there was no motivation there. Lekha had the same feelings. We suffered a little, accepted that we screwed up and gave that idea up. Speaking in the context of business, any smart businessman will tell you that you need to sell first, and then goes everything else. First you need to confirm the demand, as suggested by Frank Robinson, who came up with the MVP.
It was possible to place an ad for the sale of bricks or make a cheap website on the constructor. It would be faster and cheaper. From the point of view of life — I would have started testing the hypothesis and got value for myself much earlier. I would understand that I don’t enjoy it, and I don’t want to do this. I would save resources. I am very grateful to life for this lesson. It was very cheap and valuable. If you are thinking about business, then be sure to study what MVP and hypothesis testing are. Watch the series “Chicks” about how four girls took out a loan and wanted to open a fitness club. See what ignorance of what an MVP is can lead to.
Use the MVP approach in life. If you want to buy an apartment, try to rent in the desired area first. If you want to move to another city or country, try to live there for a few months first. You think it’s cool to be a programmer, it’s time to quit your job and go to study — try free courses. Don’t waste resources to understand that it’s not yours. Try to get feedback in any way, as cheaply and as soon as possible. You can’t start something because it’s complicated and big? Start with the MVP, then improve. Do it quick and dirty, but start acting.
“If you’re not ashamed of the first version of your product, you launched too late”
Reed Hoffman
An iterative approach using MVP will help you ensure flexibility, maintain enthusiasm and save your resources. This greatly simplifies the path of the manager who organizes any process. Any combination of actions is not magic, luck or esotericism, which does not depend on you. Everything can be combined into a project, you can put together a plan and organize the movement in clear steps. You are the manager of your life, and only you can do it. You are responsible for the result.
Any difficult goal and task that you have not done before is not “wow, this is somehow difficult, I do not know how to do it.” This is a set of actions that you need to get after the analysis and planning process. You should look at all the challenges in life as a project and not let your thoughts go into abstraction. Start small. Try to take on the organization of a picnic with friends or a joint trip, try to plan your training or the process of obtaining a tax deduction. Read the HBR Guide “Project Management”, take free courses and gradually complicate projects in life and at work. Over time, this will become a habit, and you will approach everything more structurally. The development of project management skills has a huge power of compound interest and can significantly affect your results.
