Chamber 🏰 of Tech Secrets #35
Minimum viable *
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a concept used in the development of new (often software) products that advocates for the minimum feature set needed to satisfy users. This facilitates the quick release of a useful product, early feedback from users, and iterative development thereafter while minimizing risks and investments (time and financial). The idea was popularized in the book “The Lean Startup”.
What other ideas benefit from a Minimum Viable approach, and what are the potential benefits?
Minimum Viable Documentation: Just like code (the software product), the less documentation the better. It must be enough for the intended purpose (showing a user how to do something, explaining a decision), but nothing more. Documentation carries its own form of debt (a future liability) as it must be updated and maintained over time. In my experience, most documentation in enterprises becomes stale over time and then creates confusion. You need documentation, but not too much.
Minimum Viable Company: Startups often employ minimal staff and focus their energy on their core business, ignoring all they can and outsourcing all that’s left. Perhaps this model should be maintained for longer than the early growth stages?
Minimum Viable Challenge: One way to develop people without overwhelming them — which may drive quitting / giving up and therefore never reaching their goal — is to provide the minimum challenge that results in adaptation. Small, challenging work assignments or projects. Short, appropriately intense workouts. Drills that progress with observed skill (kicking a soccer ball from increasing distances). In CrossFit, this is often performed by a coach who helps people scale workouts to the limit of their current abilities as they build strength, cardio capacity, and skill.
Minimum Viable Lifestyle: What is the minimum lifestyle that works for you and your family? Absolute minimalism is not for most people, but nearly all of us can benefit from owning a little less, saving a little more, and enjoying the usage of the things we already have instead of spending time acquiring new things. Or perhaps just “owning” things that return happiness (for me things like travel, experiences with family, or perhaps a second home out west one day) instead.
Minimum Viable Travel Planning: I have traveled domestically and internationally with a plane ticket and the first night’s hotel reservation, and nothing more. These are among my favorite trips. This may not work for everyone or for every trip, but traveling using the principles of feedback and iteration can create amazing experiences. Give it a try.
Minimum Viable News: Most news is not something we need to know or that impacts our lives. For many, it is simply a hobby (though I don’t believe it to be a very good one if I am honest). What is the minimum possible news you can consume? When is voting day? Did a foreign country invade your own? If you really need to know, someone is going to tell you anyway. Minimizing news can reduce stress, anger, and wasted time and increase focus, quality of relationships, time for better hobbies or fitness and health. It will also add the occasional element of surprise when your friend tells you the massive current event that just happened.
Where else can you apply Minimum Viable *? Let me know your ideas in the comments below.