Imposter Syndrome? Knock it out with Scrum
Imposter Syndrome is no joke. It can be completely paralyzing when it kicks in. But what if I told you that developing your project management skills can gut punch that ole’ imposter syndrome and knock it out?
It’s true.
Let’s dive in and take a look at how developing your project management and Scrum skills can knock out imposter syndrome.
Drive The Spike
Scrum has a simple and effective concept called “Drive the Spike” that can help in combatting overwhelm and put implementation at the forefront. The strategy is this.
- Identify opportunity
- Brainstorm Solution
- Build at least part of the solution
- Launch
- Evaluate
- Improve
This is very powerful as you can see there is simply no emotion in any of these steps. In fact it is a more scientific approach. This strategy can reduce risk and set you up to become a problem solver; slaying obstacles and making improvements until the solution is successful.
By building only part of it, the bare minimum you need to sell it, you can begin to collect data and evaluate that data to begin making improvements to your idea. Now your product or solution, is no longer just an idea, but it is a proof of concept and your job now is to identify where it is weak and make improvements.
Notice there is no step to scrap what you just created and start over. There is no step to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. It’s about starting and then creating a cycle of continuous improvement, each time identifying a weak area and improving on it. Or identifying a gap and filling it in.
This "build part of it" concept focuses your attention on the top priority items of whatever it is you are building, whether it is part of your offer, your funnel or your content. It also helps you juggle projects along with your day-to-day work because you can make the project smaller and more manageable by building it in chunks.
So how do you know what to build first? Try using the Scrum prioritization method below.
M = Must Have
S = Should Have
C = Could Have
W = Won’t have at this time
This simple approach to prioritizing is really quite easy and usually obvious. For example, you can't build an automated sales page without having the ability to take a payment electronically. So resolving that is a definite must have.
On the other hand, if you are making sales over the phone or video call, you can certainly take a credit card manually using your accounting software, leaving that electronic automated sales page as a "could have" or even a "won't have at this time." It's not that you'll never have that feature, it probably is part of your build-out. But you simply don't need it now, so it is put off until later. That is how we build in chunks.
These concepts of Scrum are just some of the ways you can systematize your business build-out using tried and true project management practices so you stay focused on the work and the goals without getting stuck in your head.
If you are not convinced that project management and Scrum can help you knock out imposter syndrome, I challenge you give it a try. Take a more scientific approach to your business and put some project management to practice to keep you focused on the detail with your sights on the bigger picture.
I guarantee you will have less bouts of self-doubt and more focus on implementation. Your business is just a project away. No emotions, no drama, just a project.
