Is there ever enough time to properly prepare? 28 days until launch and the to do list is daunting. To make my departure date i’ve got to handle the absolute essentials first. It’s very confusing to have to scrap great chunks of the project so that the core can be achieved.
My mistakes? I’m not the most effective manager. Initially I recruited the wrong poeple for the work I needed and found myself having to train and cajole rather than direct. Managing meant less progress on my own work – the mission critical stuff.
In theory, help sounds wonderful. In practice it can be distracting. Ideally we want to clone a fragment of ourselves to do a job our way and then forget about it. Poeple don’t think or act alike, so help means finding someone who is an approximation of ourselves in key areas – experience, motivation, interests. My failure to find close matches for the most important jobs was compounded by geography – it’s tough to motivate, manage and train remotely.
Melonie finally bailed in early March. I excused Jonathan from his blogging burden soon after. Running solo was kind of a relief.
Susan Fisk has since taken over command of the Twitter front with minimal supervision and Jonathan’s been focused on his post production chops. The team transforms, adapts and persists.
I am still looking at a plateful. The only answer is to crank – increase metabolism and gobble. Perhaps not the right analogy for a low impact project? Damn the analogies, full speed ahead!