I don’t consider myself to be a “tech” guy but, in general, I’m pretty much up-to-date on topics that are relevant to both my professional career and personal lifestyle. When it comes to work, my current role demands the maximization of data utilization and the application of workflows that aim to influence the bottom line. A couple of weeks ago we had a meeting about one of the projects I’m currently leading. After a couple of months of hard work, the project reached a milestone that required coming up with a very detailed and specific desired state.

In project management, the word “desired state” refers to a “gap analysis“.  Simply put, a gap analysis is a process that involves the comparison of actual performance with the desired performance. Implementation of this process usually reveals areas of improvement and facilitates building a roadmap to close the gap between business requirements and current capabilities.

Even though the definition of a gap analysis is fairly simple and straightforward, its application can be challenging in the absence of a poorly defined desired outcome. Think about it, how do companies like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and other giants in the tech industry keep coming up with profitable offerings?. How do they envision the desired outcome that is likely to have a high chance of success?.

I know these companies have built a long track record that helps them build on their success but early on they had to be visionaries … they had no choice but to dream big.

By now you’re probably thinking where in the world are you going with this story and how is this related to your project at work. Well, let me carry on …

How Can Someone Dream Big?

Before the project was kicked off, we were required to put together a project charter that included participants, scope, objectives (business requirements), and timelines. Due to the nature of our project (innovation) the business requirements were high level. Why? because we were trying to build something completely new that had no benchmark we could think of.

This made the project exciting because we knew we had no choice but to dream big. On top of that, there was a risk in terms of scope creep, the potential to miss deadlines, and lack of resources.

I would like to believe that, on a very small scale, this is how folks at Facebook, Amazon, Apple felt early on … maybe they did, maybe not, I would bet you a burrito they were going through similar (maybe worst) emotions.

Going back to our meeting, it was clear (at least to me) that if we wanted to move forward we had no choice but to be explicit about what our product needed to do. We developed a prototype but it required a ton of work. 

The timeline was pretty tight so the plan was simple … adjust our existing prototype to meet envisioned (tough one) business needs. Once the plan was in place we moved to execution.

Day one, I spent over 10 hours in front of my monitor and probably accomplished 10% of what I had planned to do. As days passed I kept on dreaming and the process of putting things on paper actually helped.

From time to time, we would have to go back and make adjustments based on ideas that popped up and where relevant. As frustrating as it was, we refused complacency especially on things we could improve.

Gen-2 of our prototype was completed per project plan. By the time It was done, I could not believe my eyes. I think I stared at my screen in complete disbelief filled with joy and happiness … our dream or better said our desired state was now in front of us and we were ready to keep the project moving forward. We presented the results to the bigger team and got some interesting reactions:

• Holy shit … always a good one,
• Wow, also a good one
• You mother… in a good way,
• Dude, I’m pumped,
• Man, let’s start our own company … makes you think right?
• But what about this?
• What if we add this?
• Have you thought of this?
• What if instead?

The reason, I’m sharing these comments is not because I want to brag about our performance. Someone could have said something completely rude (thankfully nobody did 😀 ) and It would have been fine.

Why?

I experienced satisfaction at its highest level and I was genuinely opened to constructive feedback.

Why did I Have A Happy Day At Work?

Looking back, I never anticipated things were going to turn out the way they did. Yes, I was concerned with failure but we didn’t have time to worry about that. Accomplishing our milestone made it possible for our team to get closer to the finish line. Yes, there’s still a lot of work ahead of us but if dreaming and making things come to life don’t get you excited I’m not sure what will.

What Made It Possible?

• Understanding the “So What”: documenting the merit of spending time and resources on this project was critical. We had to be ready to address questions such as: Why do we need to do things differently? will our solution influence the bottom line? will this new process be used? chances of getting buy-in? how different is it from our current solution? how will we handle the management of change?
• Defining the desired state (at least loosely): Our existing process was (and still is) cumbersome. We knew people would be happy with a more lean, consistent, and sustainable solution. What that solution needed to look like it’s a different Story. We had some clues but putting it all together in a nice package was challenging.
• Planning: this is the most critical step in project management and is one where teams spend the least amount of time. I don’t know if it’s the excitement of getting into execution mode but lack of planning is the #1 reason projects fail. In our case, we put a lot of time and effort into planning. 
• Getting started: This was actually the toughest part. That first day staring at my monitor made me question whether we would be able to get things done. What if we get nowhere?, what if We put all this time and effort and in the end, it’s all wrong? what if we run out of time? what if we get stuck? what if we fail?. We had no time to worry about all this crap, we had to get shit done.
• Walking an unclear path: Getting started was tough but building and following the path to an envisioned (honestly did not have a clue) destination proved to be even more challenging. We devised a roadmap but the path was not entirely clear. Time was getting closer so we had no choice but to start walking. All I can say is that we were at least glad to be on a path instead of being in the middle of nowhere.
• Not being afraid to fail: Having no time to think about failure really helped the situation. Shooting for an MVP (minimum viable product) instead of a 100% solution also helped keep an open mind about things we would probably miss but that could be discovered by other members of the team.
• Time: It has the potential of pushing someone out of their comfort zone. In our case, It made us think about what was possible or not. It truly tested creativity and capabilities but It also made removed fears of screwing up.

Why Should You Care?

Honestly, nobody should … unless they want to :). I’ve worked many projects in my career but it had been a while since I was so happy at work. What made this experience so different?. Why was I so happy? How does this relate to our journey to FI?

Looking back I think it was the journey and emotional rollercoaster of making dreams a reality.

As I think about the elements that contributed to the emotions I experienced, it is easy to identify analogies and lessons learned that are applicable to personal finance. A couple of questions that come to mind are:

Have you performed a gap analysis for reaching FI? if so, are you currently living below your means while saving/investing the rest?

Are you paying yourself first and leveraging automation?

Are you aware of your asset allocation?

Have you started investing?

Answering these questions should reveal opportunities for improvement so you can close the gap between where you are today and where you expect to be years down the road.

Final Thoughts

Asking the “so what” question can be tricky. The intent is never to second guess anyone, piss someone off, or to give the impression of superiority. It’s actually the opposite, the purpose is to incentivize discussion to make sure there’s a clear understanding of the value proposition before agreements to move forward.

I’ve been in meetings where the “so what” question has come up. Responses vary, from individuals that do their due diligence, to others that simply don’t spend the time understanding the bottom line.

If we switch gears and talk about Personal Finance, why are you saving? why are you delaying instant gratification? Maybe you don’t have a solid answer to all these questions but I think you should. Otherwise, what’s the goal of achieving Financial Independence. 

Planning is also critical. It will help you identify areas for improvement and define goals. But what about getting started? This one has to be the most difficult for everyone. In our case, it took us 6 years and as a result, we missed out on enjoying the benefits of compounding.

Our path to Financial Independence is still not 100% clear but we’d rather walk, fall but learn along the way. Mistakes are inevitable but we believe the more you make the higher your success rate is likely to be. 

Time is the only commodity that is finite in life. We are given a limited amount of time and we need to take advantage of it. Whether it is allowing compounding to do its magic or enjoying experiences that bring happiness and joy to our lives please do not take time for granted.

Last but not least dreaming big and being able to bring that dream to life has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. Yes, it can and should be a painful process but the reward will be there. If you want to live a happy and full-filling life don’t be afraid to dream big and then work on making that dream a reality.

Are you enjoying your journey to FI? are you dreaming big? … Until next time JJ.