🪤   The 90% Trap
🧮   Budget to Choose
🧱   Bit by Bit
🪤 The 90% Trap
How many projects or initiatives are stuck at eighty to ninety percent in your company? I bet more than a few!
I call this the 90% Trap, and I see it a lot. These are projects that were started with the best of intentions, but never got completed. From product launches to software implementations to process improvements. It’s a graveyard of unfinished projects.
There are two reasons for the 90% Trap:
- Weak Upfront Planning: The project is poorly defined, especially with the intended impact and value it will deliver for the business. As things progress, other projects take priority and it loses relevance and resources.
- Underestimating the Final Mile: It’s the 90-90 Rule, which states, “The first 90% of the project takes 90% of the time, and the last 10% takes the other 90% of the time.” The last 10% is almost the start of a new project.
Overcoming the 90% Trap starts with your annual strategic planning. First, take on fewer priorities and initiatives. Second, commit to 100% completion.
As the old adage goes, every time you say “yes” to something, you are saying “no” to something else.
One Stat to Watch
67%
67% of well-developed strategies fail due to poor execution, according to an HBR study.
🧮 Budget to Choose
Pick your business priorities with three simple tools:
- Budget
- Milestones
- Timeline
One of the challenges of strategic planning is it’s relatively easy to say, “yes.”
In a workshop or planning session, you see the opportunities clearly with all the work that needs to be done. This leads to a list of “big rocks” and priorities of what the business needs to complete in the coming months and quarters.
The priorities get documented, but many get abandoned or stuck in the 90% Trap.
To break the cycle, assign a budget, milestones, and timeline to every major initiative:
- Budget: Make a financial commitment to the priority. What are you investing in terms of dollars, time, and resources?
- Milestones: What are the deliverables and stages to validate, execute, and deliver the project?
- Timeline: When do you anticipate you will deliver the project and achieve key milestones along the way?
The exercise is a bit onerous, but the value is immense. The act of budgeting changes the equation for a priority. If you can’t assign a budget or don’t want to go through the effort, it’s fair to question if the priority is really a priority.
🧱 Bit by Bit
You won’t grow a Sticky Brand with a short burst of effort. Rather, you’ve got to invest in it every single day.
Work hard to improve your business bit by bit. Look to your customers for the things that matter:
- Faster deliveries
- Better service
- Simpler products
Deliberately improving your business bit by bit will give you a sustainable, competitive advantage.
🤔 Thoughts on Today’s Issue?
We’d love to hear your feedback. Message with any thoughts, comments, or ideas for future issues.