"Small quick wins" is definitely the best approach but come disguised with a deadly mindset trap I've seen many leaders carry in my experience.
The most challenging thing with quick wins is uncovering which has the most "lever". A task that requires analytical thinking, data, tooling and a solid strategy with metric trees to unvover... all are rarely defined in big companies let alone startups.
Quick wins for me has always been a great story to preach but incredibly hard to execute
On a side note, I 💯 agree with you that in the event of not having the right foundation or time to uncover those gems... then your best bet is to throw as many arrows and see which one hits the bullseye (which is all about action and velocity). It may take a quarter or two or it may take 4 years. It's solely based on initial gut feeling and feedback loops that improves with time.
Doing something for long enough for the results to emerge is a test for any operator or founder. It's almost impossible to know when you're on the cusp of a breakthrough insight, but it could also never happen.
Are they small, measurable outcomes that prove a system is working, or are they more about emotional momentum, getting people to believe faster? I’ve found that some “quick wins” create real compounding leverage, while others just create temporary enthusiasm. I’m curious how you separate the two in practice.
The way I use it and think about it is to create momentum. I definitely engineer to make sure it's not temporary enthusiasm.
If I was forced to break it down it would be as follows. Identify what are the things within our control, what are lead indicators that we can measure? I would then focus celebrating the wins across those lead indicators regardless of how small they are because if we keep at them, smart money would bet that the lag indicator results will follow with time.
I hope this helps. And I completely see your view on emotional momentum vs temporary enthusiasm. My view is on creating real momentum via lead indicator changes in the right direction.
"Small quick wins" is definitely the best approach but come disguised with a deadly mindset trap I've seen many leaders carry in my experience.
The most challenging thing with quick wins is uncovering which has the most "lever". A task that requires analytical thinking, data, tooling and a solid strategy with metric trees to unvover... all are rarely defined in big companies let alone startups.
Quick wins for me has always been a great story to preach but incredibly hard to execute
On a side note, I 💯 agree with you that in the event of not having the right foundation or time to uncover those gems... then your best bet is to throw as many arrows and see which one hits the bullseye (which is all about action and velocity). It may take a quarter or two or it may take 4 years. It's solely based on initial gut feeling and feedback loops that improves with time.
Doing something for long enough for the results to emerge is a test for any operator or founder. It's almost impossible to know when you're on the cusp of a breakthrough insight, but it could also never happen.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Waleed!
Salaam Moayyed, thanks for sharing this.
How do you personally define quick wins?
Are they small, measurable outcomes that prove a system is working, or are they more about emotional momentum, getting people to believe faster? I’ve found that some “quick wins” create real compounding leverage, while others just create temporary enthusiasm. I’m curious how you separate the two in practice.
The way I use it and think about it is to create momentum. I definitely engineer to make sure it's not temporary enthusiasm.
If I was forced to break it down it would be as follows. Identify what are the things within our control, what are lead indicators that we can measure? I would then focus celebrating the wins across those lead indicators regardless of how small they are because if we keep at them, smart money would bet that the lag indicator results will follow with time.
I hope this helps. And I completely see your view on emotional momentum vs temporary enthusiasm. My view is on creating real momentum via lead indicator changes in the right direction.