The perfect problem
July 26th 2010 20:15
Seth Godin writes:
The way to solve the perfect problem is to make it imperfect. Don't just bend one of the constraints, eliminate it. Shut down the factory. Walk away from the job. Change your product completely. Ignore the board.
If the only alternative is slow and painful failure, the way to get unstuck is to blow up a constraint, deal with the pain and then run forward. Fast.
I had what you might call a perfect problem once, when I managed the bookstore. There were so many constraints: the shop owed money and I wanted to make sure it was all paid up before I left; another shopowner was relying on me because our two businesses were integrated; I enjoyed the work and so on.
In the end, however, I had to walk away from all this and leave it to others to sort out. Or go crazy.
Seth doesn't mention going crazy, but I think he should have.
The way to solve the perfect problem is to make it imperfect. Don't just bend one of the constraints, eliminate it. Shut down the factory. Walk away from the job. Change your product completely. Ignore the board.
If the only alternative is slow and painful failure, the way to get unstuck is to blow up a constraint, deal with the pain and then run forward. Fast.
I had what you might call a perfect problem once, when I managed the bookstore. There were so many constraints: the shop owed money and I wanted to make sure it was all paid up before I left; another shopowner was relying on me because our two businesses were integrated; I enjoyed the work and so on.
In the end, however, I had to walk away from all this and leave it to others to sort out. Or go crazy.
Seth doesn't mention going crazy, but I think he should have.
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