The joy of imperfection
When I first heard about agile development and rapid prototyping I didn’t get it. They seemed like trendy buzz words for something that software developers did. A way of working hard and fast, not suited to my peaceful and considered way of being in the world.
That all started to shift last year when I started designing board games with my friend, Hailey Cooperrider. She wanted to develop a board game that could teach people collaborative skills and I had some time on my hands so I offered to help out. At the end of our first session together we had the first of many working prototypes. It was astounding to see what we managed to achieve in three hours together but even more astounding was how much fun the process was.
Rapid prototyping is liberating, it is not about getting things perfect, it’s about about doing enough to be able to test your creation. Every time I am stumped by “Oh dear what should I write?” I answer myself with “It doesn’t matter, just write something and you can improve it later.” What a thrill — to take action without having to ‘get it right’ the first time.
Rapid prototyping epitomises the growth mindset that is so crucial to innovation, which is why it is a fantastic tool for self-management. Instead of expecting one person, be they artist, designer or leader, to have a fully formed vision of the destination, rapid prototyping offers us the opportunity to take small steps and check-in about the results. This means early feedback from the people involved can adjust the course of action and lead us all to a better outcome that works for everyone.
At Amble we’re applying this way of working to the development of our whole organisation, not just the board games we produce. We get to cocreate a structure — by us, for us — that keeps us motivated, productive and inspired.
Part 4 of a series of reflections on my participation in the Practical Self-Management Intensive with Better Work Together. The focus this week was on prototyping.
