Life Scribbles: The Deception of Last Minute Ideas or Changes

Whether you’re developing a project, product, event, or campaign, it’s vital that you have a holistic philosophy and approach for handling last minute ideas or changes before a public release. For many people, the last few days leading up to a product release is prime time to look for last minute ideas in hopes of taking a product over the top. Unfortunately, for most, last minute additions or changes only intensify the complexity of a release.

Although it may be beneficial to make minor points of refinement, last minute changes should NOT significantly change the overall course of what has been planned. Don’t let the deception of last minute ideas fool you into thinking that one new idea could change everything. Even if the “new idea” is a good one, consider making it an addition to the next version of your product. Also, there’s a good chance that last minute changes won’t significantly improve what you already have (not to mention, it will probably cost you more to do something last minute).

Use the moments before a release to fine-tune and dare I say “enjoy” the moment. The hard work of critical ideation should be done at the beginning and/or middle of a project and not at the end. Be sure to use this time to thank those who have tirelessly worked to make ideas become reality. Breathe and consider the privilege you have in bringing good(s) to the world.

In the following video from the 99% Conference, bestselling author and entrepreneur Seth Godin outlines this common creative affliction: sabotaging our projects just before we show them to the world. Godin targets our “lizard brain” as the source of these primal doubts, and implores us to “thrash at the beginning” of projects so that we can ship on time and on budget.

Life Scribbles is a blog category I created to jott down quick notes about various topics and personal interests. These notes (including questions) are meant to be short, thought-provoking, relatively open, and purposefully unresolved. I’m hoping that these Life Scribbles will challenge or refine perspectives, create meaningful conversations, and lead to further inquiry about the topics presented.