When to Ship and When to Wait

It’s a busy time for me with this blog right now. I’m in the middle of writing one of my most in-depth posts I’ve done yet and I’m working on two other projects related to the site that I’m hoping to have out before the end of May. The problem with all that is going on is that none of it is ready yet, and I still have a posting schedule I’m trying to keep up besides. So, I found myself with a dilemma this morning: Do I post the one I’ve been working on, even though it’s not ready? Or, do I write something a little shorter to give it more time?

I guess you can tell which one I chose.

It was a difficult decision though. The lesson I’ve learned from Stephen Pressfield and Seth Godin is to “ship” rather than waiting for perfection. And that’s the philosophy I’ve run with for most of my posts so far, “When in doubt, ship.” Even an interview I saw with Dan Miller on Platform University recently advised to “ship, iterate, ship, iterate.”

So why did I choose to wait?

I think that most of the time most of us need to hear Miller’s, Pressfield’s and Godin’s advice. Most of the time we never get anything accomplished because we’re too busy being perfectionists. Too often, we use “not being ready” as an excuse to give into fear. But, just because it’s usually the case that we need to suck it up and “ship” doesn’t mean that there aren’t times when waiting is the right choice.

Let me say here, also, that “shipping” doesn’t just apply to a physical product a creative work. Maybe you need to “ship” your exercise routine by hitting the gym even though you don’t know all the best workouts yet. Maybe you need to “ship” that meeting with your boss to ask for a raise even though you haven’t perfected your Powerpoint. Maybe you need to “ship” asking that girl you like out, even though you’re not sure if she’ll say yes. Sometimes shipping doesn’t take a package.

I’ve got a good feeling about this post I’m working on. I feel like it’s one that people will go back to and reference as long as this blog exists (which I’m hoping is for years to come). But, it will only be that kind of post if it’s good enough. It’s at a point now where I could slap a bow on it, post it, and it would be acceptable, but it’s not the post I intended it to be yet. It won’t accomplish what I’m hoping it will accomplish. So I decided to wait.

How do we decide when to ship and when to wait?

I think that those guys are right. I think that “When in doubt, ship” the right way to go. Most of the time the thing we’re afraid of letting see the light of day because it isn’t “perfect” is good enough, and will accomplish what we’ve intended it to.

But when there is no doubt, wait. If your project won’t accomplish what you’ve intended it to (as long as the goal wasn’t “perfection”), wait. If you’re still actively working on it, and it’s growing and changing drastically, and you’re not stuck, wait.

“Shipping” and waiting are two sides of the same coin. Whenever you ship, and whenever you wait you’ve got a 50–50 chance that you made the right choice, or you didn’t. Most of the time, we need to ship. Shipping is the only way to know for sure if we made the right choice, which is why I say ship if you’re in doubt. But, when you’re certain that waiting is the best thing, then hurry up and wait. Just make sure that you’re not waiting as an excuse to give into fear.

Where are you at right now? Do you need to ship? Or do you need to wait? Remember that shipping doesn’t always have to involve UPS.