Chris Lema is Haunting me

This weekend I got to enjoy WordCamp San Diego 2013. It was a really great experience that you can read a bit more about here. This post comes from some, um, “inspiration” I got there. Chris Lema gave a great talk about Execution. He said a lot of really helpful stuff. Check out his presentation here for details. The problem is, he said one thing that will now haunt me forever.

“I kept hearing people say ‘Ya, it’s done’ and then a bunch of other words. Your client doesn’t want to hear about all the things they have to do after you called it done. They want to know if it’s ‘Done, Done’!”

So, I’m working on this gargantuan project that’s been keeping me up for weeks, and that started several years ago. And I need to turn it in ASAP. I’d like to call it done. I’m feeling it real bad right now; that feeling of “S^%$! Let’s call it done and go home!” And that’s when the ghost of Chris Lema sneaks up behind me and goes:

But is it “Done, Done” Matt!? Bwaaa haaa haa haa haa!

Dammit, Chris. No it’s not. And yes, you’re right, I can’t “call it done” until it’s really, seriously, awesomely done.

Instead of crying about it not being done though, the “real” Chris Lema challenged us over the weekend to re-train ourselves to be more efficient, more productive, more creative, not by “learning something new” but by reflecting on our work culture and breaking it, starting a fresh, and watch our productivity go through the roof.

So that’s what I’ve been doing with this project, and I have to say that today was honestly one of my most productive days yet. Alright, I’m calling this post DONE!

Image element courtousy of KasiaKay at sxc.hu