🎯 Aim for Improvement, Not Perfection 🚀

A few days back, while sitting on my balcony, I watched a neighbour who had just learned to drive, manoeuvring his car out of a parking space. He reversed his car 3-4 times to ensure it didn't hit the adjacent parked car. Today, I saw him again, reversing his car, but this time only twice.

What this reminded me of 👇:

𝗔𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

Had he rushed a few days back, he might have hit the other car. Instead, he took his time and improved gradually.

For someone transitioning into a product role, the key to success lies in daily improvement and improvisation. Shortcuts may seem enticing, but they lead nowhere.

Five years ago, transitioning from engineering to a product role was both exciting and challenging. While I knew partially what needed to be done, I was unsure about the how.

This uncertainty caused anxiety and nervousness, but I realised it wasn't just me. Everyone transitioning feels the same. So, I sought advice from colleagues and my manager, which helped alleviate my nervousness. However, I knew I needed a plan to get acclimated to the role.

During a one-on-one with my manager, she discussed my next focus: leading the Scrum ceremonies. As she spoke, I felt overwhelmed. Sensing my nervousness, she reassured me, saying, "Mistakes are expected. What's important is learning from them gradually."

This shifted my perspective entirely. I began slowly, with many conversations and actions missing, but I took notes and recorded meetings to reflect and improve.

After three months, I noticed improvement and felt more confident.

Another challenge was writing user stories for the development team. Initially, I mimicked others' approaches without understanding the intent behind user stories. As a result, crucial details were omitted, leading to multiple revisions and frustrations.

Realising my mistake, I delved into understanding user stories' purpose. As I learned, I began crafting requirements from the user's perspective with more enthusiasm, resulting in clearer requirements and fewer refinement iterations.

Three directions and their outcomes:

🛑 If I didn't act → I would have failed to lead the ceremonies. → My transition into the product role would have been a disaster.

🎯 If I aimed for perfection → I would be waiting for the perfect start. → High expectations but poor results.

🔄 If I improved gradually → Slow start. → Continuous improvement. → Long-term success.

I didn't mind starting slowly; instead, I focused on continuous improvement. Isn't that what Agile is about?

Conclusion:

Aiming for perfection delays action.

Aiming to fail, learn, and try leads to long-term success. 🌟

---

If you found this helpful, there are more ways I can help. Learn more