Work Backward, Gut Check Forward

Working Backward

Working forward and gut checking backward enables failure – and not often the good kind.

The good kind of failure is failure we couldn’t have avoided given our situation in the moment, but have learned from.

The bad kind of failure is ending in a place we never wanted to be with no where to go but back.

Flipping what leads us more often to failure on its head means that we begin by working backward and gut checking forward.

By working backward we define the goal we’re hoping for in the actions we’ll take; we’re defining why we’ll do what we’ll do and design what we’ll design.

Then we walk backward from the goal to where we are now and document the steps. And as we start from where we are, we gut check our work every step of the way forward.

Are we still on track to our destination? Are we still doing and designing for the same reason?

Getting lost in a maze? That’s fun. Getting lost in our mission, in the legacy we’re leaving, in our why of why we do what we do? Not so much.

Stay Positive & Pick, Plan (Backward) Then Go

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Garth Beyer
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