Comments on: Shipping vs. Learning

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 02:50:31 +0000

Graham: Yep, point taken on that. The approach I talk about here is meant to be a provocative approach… possibly overshooting the optimal approach even, in order to really get people thinking about how they would change the way they work. I agree that the end goal is not simply to learn… BUT, learning might still be the best regular internal deliverable than “shipping progress”.

By: Graham Lea

Graham Lea — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 00:44:54 +0000

I like the main theme here: put a conscious effort into focussing more on learning. I worry, though, that you’ve promoted learning to being the only goal. “Shipping simply becomes another way to learn.” At the end of the day, learning has to be in service of some greater goal. Drug companies pour millions into R&D – essentially the “learning” department – but at some point they need to say they’ve learnt enough and start shipping. It feels like you’re advocating switching the focus of *all* activity onto learning. I think the real trick is to find the right balance. Good inspiration to keep learning front of mind, though. Thanks.

By: Mike D.

Mike D. — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 17:53:22 +0000

Nicolas: Good addition, re: ROI.

Troy: Didn’t know there was a halo rule around container ships. Nobody hassled us! :)

By: Troy Dennis

Troy Dennis — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 02:07:35 +0000

Btw, (almost) as great as the post is the photo you took of the container ship. Nice shot. Is that sanctioned distance? ;)

By: Troy Dennis

Troy Dennis — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 01:57:01 +0000

Great post Mike. Love it.

By: Jeremy Keith

Jeremy Keith — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 09:40:28 +0000

I really, really, *really* like this thinking. It feels very close to our values at Clearleft, so now I’m wondering if we could start adopting this approach more formally. Great stuff!

By: Nathan Jeffery

Nathan Jeffery — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 21:41:22 +0000

Great insight.

I’d be keen to see/read more about how other teams do this, specifically in a small agency style environment where projects worked on vary on a monthly basis.

By: Nicolas Toper

Nicolas Toper — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 22:26:01 +0000

Hi,

That’s a wonderful idea. I’d add something around: why this is important/ROI. At this step they should be qualifiable at least. e.g. I could decide to learn (or ship) something totally irrelevant. Adding this part would allow to start that conversation.