The Shipment-Driven Life

ByMatthew

Seth Godin is a huge mentor and teacher for me. I subscribe to his blog updates and have read several of his books. Lately he has been talking a lot about the importance of shipping. Shipping is actually getting things done. It’s finishing stuff and getting it out the door. Shipping is not about perfection, it’s about being willing to finish something and letting the market, or your team, or friends, tell you where it needs work.

It’s not about sending something out that isn’t ready, or incomplete. Shipping is overcoming the paralysis of ‘making-it-perfect’ before anyone can see it or adding feature upon feature (which often just leads to it becoming something else, which requires more testing and time — a never-ending cycle). Take a gander at the post that inspired this thought and join me below:

“Looking For The Right Excuse” at Seth Godin’s Blog

The Shipment-Driven Life is one focused on finishing things. On not waiting until something is perfect to show it to anyone or get it out-the-door. It is, of course, a reference to Rick Warren’s book/movement, The Purpose Driven Life, and it’s about, in a way, faith and devotion, but it’s obviously much different. It’s about doing what needs to be done and getting things out-the-door.

Now my coach hat goes on and I ask where are you not shipping? What are you not working on? What are you continually revising, and not shipping? Stop that and start doing. Call it a ‘draft’ or a ‘prototype,’ or whatever, but finish it and get some feedback. Find out what you’ve got and go from there.

Start shipping.

Similar Posts

  • What’s In Your Language?

    ByMatthew

    Less than three minutes in to the latest episode of the Good Life Project I heard something that I had to write about. In introducing how he went from soccer-playing college freshman from the ‘burbs to immersed in indigenous Amazonian culture, Tyler Gage talks about how stewardship was part of the language of an indigenous tribe he was “with.” It…

  • A Life Not Needing Escape

    ByMatthew

    Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from. – Seth Godin There’s really not much to add to this. Why do so many of us live lives that we regularly ponder escaping from? Of course it’s natural – and healthy – to desire…

  • How To Move Forward With Ease

    ByMatthew

    “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” – Steve Jobs In a way, what Steve is talking about is whether one is on authentically chosen path, and is part of something larger than one’s self – or something else. The “something…

  • The World

    ByMatthew

    The world is a great mirror. It reflects back to you what you are. If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful, the world will prove loving and friendly and helpful to you. The world is what you are. – Thomas Dreier You get what you give. You reap what you…

  • Thought vs. Thinking

    ByMatthew

    I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough, we must do. – Leonardo da Vinci Thought is so vitally important to the quality and content of our lives, but thinking is over-rated. What we think creates our emotions and our emotions create…