So, I wanted to talk about this thing I went through recently, something I just started calling ‘short and tight’ in my head. Wasn’t planned, just sort of happened out of necessity, you know?
We had this project, right? It started off like they always do – big ideas, everyone throwing stuff in. Feature creep wasn’t just creeping; it was sprinting. The whole thing was becoming a monster, documentation piling up, meetings going nowhere. Just… bloated.
I remember sitting in yet another endless meeting, looking at the whiteboard covered in scribbles that made less sense the longer you stared. And I just thought, ‘This is ridiculous. We’re going nowhere fast.’ So, I decided, kinda on the spot, we needed to chop it down. Hard.
The goal became: short and tight. Get the absolute core done, and done well. Nothing else.
Getting Down to It
First thing, I cancelled half the recurring meetings. Just wiped them off the calendar. People looked surprised, maybe a bit relieved?
Then, I grabbed the main spec document. Printed it out – yeah, old school, I know. Took a thick red pen. Started slashing.
- Anything that sounded like a ‘nice-to-have’? Gone.
- Features that depended on three other uncertain things? Gone.
- Stuff nobody could clearly explain the user benefit for in one sentence? Definitely gone.
It felt brutal, honestly. Like I was killing someone’s darlings. There were grumbles, for sure. Had a few awkward chats where people tried to defend their pet features.
My line was simple: ‘Is it absolutely essential for launch? No? Then it’s out for now.’ We focused only on the bare minimum viable thing. What had to work for it to even be called a product.
Pushback was real. Some folks felt their work was being disrespected. Others worried the stripped-down version wouldn’t be ‘good enough’. It took constant reinforcement. Repeating the ‘short and tight’ mantra like a broken record. Kept bringing it back to the core goal.
What Happened Next
You know what? We actually finished the core thing. On time, even slightly under budget, which never happens.
And it worked. Solidly. Because we weren’t distracted by a million bells and whistles.
It wasn’t flashy. Some people still complained it was too basic. But it was done. And it provided a solid foundation. We could add things later, properly, instead of launching a buggy mess.
Made me realize how much time we usually waste on fluff. This whole ‘short and tight’ thing, born out of frustration, actually turned out to be pretty effective. Might just try doing it on purpose next time.
