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I am almost done with this project, but people keep slowing me down from completing it

Finish Lining

All Tools
FINISH LINING@2x

The Context

Sometimes we override people’s feedback not because it’s wrong or hurtful, but because we simply don’t want to go backward and do more work. It’s less about temperament and more about timing. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Because when the finish line is in sight, when our executions muscles are all quivering and veiny and oiled up, the last thing we need is another distraction.

The Tool

two color

Finish Lining

FINISH LINING — Observing and avoiding whatever opposes or weakens forward motion in the final hour

The closer you are to shipping, the greater the resistance will be. And so, when the finish line is in site, notice whatever opposes or weakens forward motion. Keep your head down. And be vigilant in not letting the abundance of feedback chew up valuable time and disrupt your plans. Why argue with the voice of dissent when you can train yourself not to hear it?

Scott's Take

Scott's Take

My old boss was the king of giving last minute feedback the week before launching new products. It drove the designers and developers up the wall, since their work was so labor intensive. They couldn’t just cut and paste a few lines of code, delete a few layers of images, and then hit the publish button. Boss was essentially asking for a page one rewrite at four in the afternoon. And while the team agreed with the accuracy of his feedback and planned on implementing it in the next iteration, we learned to move forward without adopting his changes. He was not thrilled about this. After all, he was the founder of the company. And it took him several months to accept it. But eventually, he came around. Or should I say, he came around less.

The Rest

Build a bias for output. Finished isn't just better than perfect, it's better than anything. Get your ass across the finish line, chug some water, and then gear up for the next race. What weakens your team's forward motion?

The Benefits

Reduce frustration and extra work on creative teams
Complete projects without excessive delays or derailments
Overcome resisting to execution in the last stages of projects
Become less sensitive and influenced by unhelpful feedback

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