N Thing

My thoughts on half-baked ideas. And un-everything.

And that's when it hit me. Of course I thought the performance review process was perfect. I'd created it. I would be more than happy to use it. But I wasn't the person who needed to use it. Here's what I realized:

1. My perfect is not their perfect.
2. They don't have a perfect. In fact, there is no they. There are 2000 individuals, each of whom wants something a little different.
3. The more perfect I think it is, the less willing I'll be to let anyone change it.
4. The only way to make it useful to everyone is to allow each person to change it to suit him or herself.
5. The only way people will use it is if they do change it in some way.
6. The only way I will encourage them to change it and make it their own is if I make it imperfect.

If you speak authoritatively, don't expect questions

According to the food historians, early baking mixes were not readily accepted. Why? Two reasons: (1) Early mixes were not reliable and they produced inconsistent results. (2) Home cooks had a difficult time reconciling modern convenience with traditional expectations. When food companies make things *too simple* their products are summarily rejected. Even in today's culture of ultra-convenience, this holds true. The "Snack'n Cake" lesson.

The reason you look like a dork riding a Segway is that you look smug. You don't seem to be working hard enough.