Tips for Tackling the Daunting Project
Starting or managing a new project can be an overwhelming and complex array of near-impossible tasks, unique challenges, and unexpected obstacles. It’s easy to become discouraged and impede your own progress. I usually have several undertakings in progress at once, so I understand the difficulty of leading a team and developing an idea to completion. Here are some tips for success in your latest venture.
Stay Positive
Whether you are working on a personal passion project or taking care of business at work, it’s important to establish a healthy and productive environment for yourself and your team. If you’re feeling daunted by a challenge, remember your original purpose and understand that success is, in part, the result of a positive attitude. Creativity and innovation, even analytical approaches, should be enjoyable exercises for the intellectual mind. You and your team will work smarter if you’re having fun.
Be Flexible
At Inventionland, we’re no strangers to the unexpected. Our designers understand that an idea is a living, breathing thing—it is constantly transforming. In the prototype phase, we find obstacles that prevent progress for the product as it is, and so we have to return to the drawing board to find a new path. By completion, a product has often taken a much different form than what was first imagined. The key to reaching the final stages of a project is flexibility. Believe in your idea, but don’t marry it. We are learning continually throughout the process, which enables us to adapt our approach and offer something truly original.
Consider Feedback
Perspective is critical to ensuring the success of a project. It is easy to spend so much time with an idea or an approach that it becomes difficult to objectively identify existing or potential problems. Your team, colleagues, or creative community can help you shape your idea by offering observations and recommendations you are too invested to see. Remember, though, that not all feedback is valuable to you. It is important to decide what advice to apply, because you’re at the helm and you know your goals better than anyone.
Work Consistently
It’s true—creativity without discipline and structure is often stifled. Many good ideas never leave the sketchbook. If you struggle with maintaining focus, it is important to outline your goals, decide on a realistic timeframe, and design a loose schedule to act as your vehicle to success. If you work best in the morning, make sure you are available to work on your project before you take on anything else in the day. If you work best in brief but concentrated windows, schedule in hour blocks to brainstorm. Identify the unique challenges you and your team face and adapt your pace. A consistent approach will build momentum, so you will be less likely to stall out in the face of an obstacle.
Success is a little faith, a relentless spirit, and quick feet. What are your secrets for getting from point A to point B?