Velocity is not as important as sustainability

07 April 2015 Unknown 0 Comments

image by zonalandeducation.com

There is this idea in software development called velocity. Okay, velocity isn't a new idea nor exclusive to software development. But what it refers to in software development is how quickly your team can close tickets which means building features or fixing bugs.

There are two reasons for keeping track of velocity. One is just to be able to predict when you can be done with a new feature or whatever. So predictability and planning is one reason.

The second reason is to get faster. If you track your velocity, you can set goals to get faster and work harder to increase your velocity.

The first reason is acceptable, but the second reason is terrible if you care about being successful over the long haul.

From the business side of creativity, I can understand the impetus to want to move faster. Faster equals more value and therefore more money. Money allows you to keep creating, so you need money. You need to ship products.

But faster has long term consequences that hurt the business in ways that are hidden, or at least they are not apparent and many businesses fail because of this.

It comes down to sustainability. Getting as much done as possible and pushing hard to work faster and faster makes you forget wandering. It makes you forget to protect your ugly babies. And without wandering and ugly babies, you become stagnant. You might have an amazing product, but it will not last forever—especially nowadays.

It will eventually become less important in the market and you will need something new, or a new take on it. You can't do that if all your focus is on making stuff faster. You need to spend time wandering around and being creative so that you can innovate and create new things. You need to nurture your ugly babies. That takes time and money, but it pays out large dividends in the long run.

I'm not saying move slowly. I'm not saying be lazy and sit around waiting for inspiration. When you get that inspiration, move forward quickly. Work hard and fast, but don't forget to take time for exploration, short experiments, ugly babies, and creative wandering.

In the long run, productivity isn't the most important factor. It's sustainable creativity.