Strategy Scope: Single or Home Run?
Here is an interesting question when it comes to a web site project: Are you trying to hit a single or home run?
My son is 8 years old and loves to play baseball in front of our house or down at the park. He was a pretty decent hitter until he knocked one about 250 feet into left field…by accident. The smile on his face as he rounded first base and the ball sailed past the left fieder was priceless. Little did he know, as he was sliding into 3rd base, that he was beginning a terrible slump that would last his entire summer season as he tried to re-connect to deep left field one more time. He went from being the best hitter on the team to striking out with bases loaded in a one run playoff lose. Needless to say, he was dissapointed. The problem..he was trying to crush the ball!
There are times to swing for the fences, but there are times when just getting on base will do. When starting a project, I like to know if it is a ‘home run’ or ’singles’ project, here are a few questions to consider:
What is the timeline of the project?
Single - Will typically last 1 - 3 months
Home Run - Will continue into the future, often over 1 year
What is the relationship between the problem and the solution?
Single - Identify the problem and find an acceptable solution
Home Run - Identity the cause of the problem and replace or eliminate it
How was the solution developed?
Singles - Gathered feedback from customers to identify new features
Home Runs - Evaluated multiple industry solutions to identify industry opportunity
Other characteristics
Singles - Easy to document, outcome is understood, organization is comfortable
Home Run - Hard to explain, uncertain outcome, organization is anxious
I am sure there are all kinds of ways to figure this out, the purpose of these questions is to make sure I am reading the situation right and making the right call. When the time is right, swing for the fences! When you just need to get on base, don’t strikeout!
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