If you’re well-versed with the agile approach, then the idea of “failing fast” shouldn’t sound strange to you. It may initially come off as counter-intuitive, but those familiar with the project management philosophy understand that iterating fast failures meet objectives more accurately than perfecting formulas.
In the complex space of digital evolution, continually trying to predict, maneuver, and get rid of variances is a game no one wins. In other words, when we approach software development intending to control and narrow down variances, we most likely lose. This is because the sophisticated software development environment changes so rapidly, and we can’t influence what we can’t measure. As such, iteration, and not perfection, is the more efficient route to take.
In the face of constant change, today’s business climate demands speedy executions. It’s nearly impossible to keep focusing on perfection when solutions differ all the time. If developers take longer than usual to release a product, they risk publishing an offering that becomes irrelevant much earlier on. That being said, coming up with something “passable,” shipping it, and enhancing it based on feedback is perhaps the most effective method to get by. Repeat this process, and you up your chances of thriving and competing with contemporaries.
This strategy achieves your desired outcome much faster because of the domino effect of iterative takeaways.
Iteration Yields Excellence
Although practiced predominantly in software development, the agile scrum process is a framework that benefits many industries and organizations. Incremental but continuous progress can be a habit anyone can pick up and make the most out of. Far-reaching innovation happens when individuals learn to experiment with what works for them and sticks to these practices. More than anything, learning to adapt to a developing environment quickly is necessary to remain novel and up-to-date.
In the world of tech, iterations produce stronger working relationships hinged on autocatalytic feedback cycles. During these loops, a member’s actions can be emphasized with positive reinforcement within the process, similar to a savings account’s compound interest. Interest payments then increase a principal, driving an even higher interest on the next payment resulting in a growth spurt.
Overall, the consistent back-and-forth between feedback, marketing, and adaptation renders a more beneficial impact versus the time it would have taken to perfect a process and a solution.
This is how quality is born out of speed.
The Modern World Is Iterative
A strong indication of an influential leader is their capacity to let go of old habits and adapt to newer, more effective ones. For instance, traditional cultures refer to failure as a sign of a lack of focus and maybe even waywardness. Still, failure is crucial, not only for us to appreciate grit and perseverance better, but for us to cultivate compassion and empathy.
Innovations aren’t birthed out of a string of successes.
As startup founders, business leaders, and digital creatives, we need to embolden others to fail fast, and calculatedly. Then we need to reel from missed opportunities and bounce back with nuanced takeaways.
Here are a few other reasons why failing fast and iteration are promising experiences:
Failing fast leads to new routes.
Fast failures are perfect opportunities to tread on new paths. Document what went wrong and why it turned out the way it did, and try another strategy. Many times, the goal and vision shouldn’t change. What you should look at is how else to get there.
Failing fast helps you determine what works.
Tech industry or not, failing provides you a better understanding of what approaches work and what don’t. The faster you realize this, the sooner you can go back to the drawing board, and the more you’re on your toes thinking of new game plans, the more efficient you become at mapping out your ideas.
For anything and anyone to thrive, organization and preparation are basic ingredients, and we argue that an undoing is a necessary experience to help you grasp both.
The Fail-Fast Philosophy Improves How Tech Is Done
When it comes to app development, the only code that can’t be bugged is a code that hasn’t been written yet. Humans are bound to make mistakes, and software programs are bound to have bugs.
That’s just how things are designed.
Despite that, in no way do we imply that leaving things as is should rule out any drive to flourish. While it’s fair to say that there are a plethora of things to fret about when it comes to tech, software crashes and system failures aren’t the end of the road. What’s worrisome are deadlocks, data inconsistencies and losses, and crashes after a bug hasn’t been remedied yet. If applications crash or systems fail before any of the worst possibilities, then consider yourself fortunate.
All in all, the gist of the “failing fast” ideology in the context of the software industry is clear: if a failure happens noticeably and in immediacy, let it do so in the early phases of development. The sooner poorly-built software is identified, the sooner it’s fixed.
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