Design, Document, Delegate

The late George Martin was often referred to as the fifth Beatle. The Beatles are arguably one of the best bands in the history of rock ’n’ roll. One key way in which they accomplished this was to outsource a core function of their main product which was great music.

George Martin brought several things to the Beatles. Among those was his ability to design, document and delegate. It’s interesting to note that as a creative force behind the Beatles music George Martin’s role was defined by designing, documenting and delegating.

So how do you design, document and delegate? The hardest part of the whole equation is to actually do it. This is where most people fail including yours truly at times.

The design phase is the easy part. It’s that magic moment when you’re brainstorming and you land on a great idea. People contribute and everyone walks away thinking wow we’re really onto something. This is where most people fall down, meaning they stop the process. Without documenting and delegating all the great ideas and designs are left to wither. Don’t let this happen to you. Honor your ideas by documenting them.

The document phase is where you capture the idea and plan. This can manifest itself as writing the idea out, drawing a picture, making an audio recording , making a video, or capturing the idea in such a way that others can clearly understand and execute your vision. Once you’ve done this you can now delegate it with confidence and pull in the resources necessary to get it done.

George Martin would envision the idea. Sometimes he would play the idea so that others could hear what his idea was. If everyone agreed then the idea would be transcribed into music notation and provided to other musicians who would play the parts. This whole process constitutes designing, documenting and delegating.

The ability to extend your organization by engaging a service provider can be super critical to the success of your business. Should you yourself design, document and delegate? Absolutely! So ask yourself. How well do I do the Triple D? Now consider your team and service providers. How well do they do the triple D?

Is your company like the Beatles who consistently put out great product? Are you outsourcing with success or are you still in garage band phase? Great tech comes from great design and the ability to document, delegate and execute ideas.