Do you fear iteration? I thought I did, until I realized that my organizational culture influenced more than my personal preference.
The creative process can often look like this:
- Extensive discussions with a small group of people
- Massive front-end investment of resources (money, time, expertise)
- One-time release
Here are some of the gaps I see in this process:
- Extensive discussions with a small group of people fails to leverage the size of our organization and its cumulative creative power.
- Massive front-end investment of resources assumes more success than what actually happens. Then after helpful feedback and knowledge has been gained from the initial release, there remains little to no resources left to make the proper changes necessary for greater effectiveness.
- One-time release limits the potential for that product (evangelism tool, ministry structure, bible study resource) to morph and develop into something truly powerful. It also sends an indirect message that one has to 'get it right' the first time or else; a major roadblock to becoming a learning organization.
Have you found any examples of companies or organizations effectively iterate? I'd love any links to blogs/company websites/etc that discuss this.