I’m currently in the design phase of a new project. I love the iterative process – the thinking, the research, the planning, the discussions, the changes… It’s creative and technical, simple and complex, fun and challenging. Yet, it lacks the immediate gratification I sometimes need to feel productive and effective.
I sometimes struggle with the feeling that I haven’t accomplished enough simply because there’s not always obvious or tangible proof of the work. The project isn’t finished, so clearly, I haven’t done enough! Logically, I know it’s not true. I didn’t start the day expecting to finish, so why do I feel disappointed or disheartened? Why can it be so hard to recognize progress in an iterative process – especially when that progress is often far from linear?
Fundamentally, I know time for thinking, researching, and planning is critical to realizing a vision but functionally – it can feel unrewarding.
It reminds me of the challenge of leadership. The most important work of a leader isn’t about checking off tasks or engaging in constant ‘doing.’ Doing is immediately gratifying, but it’s not the heavy, impactful work that leadership demands. Leadership is found in how you show up – in the conversations you lead, the support you offer the team, and the example you set. It’s the daily habits, behaviours, and practices that make a difference day-to-day and have a big impact over time.
When we get distracted by the urge to do, we risk losing sight of what leadership truly requires. Just like in an iterative project, the value lies not in immediate results but in the steady, thoughtful progress that ultimately shapes the (hopeful) success of the final ‘product’.
I only recently realized that my practices for feeling accomplished and reflecting on my progress is similar whether I’m leading a team or creating a product or service:
Celebrate milestones. Whether it’s daily, weekly, monthly, or the full breadth of the project, create small and even microscopic milestones and celebrate achievements along the way.
Be kind to yourself. I acknowledge and feel my feelings and then talk to myself the way I would talk to a peer or team member.
Visualize the process. Map out the process (you may end up with multiple versions over time) using paper, poster board, apps, calendars, or anything else you can think of. This way, as you work through the process you can visually track your progress so when your brain has forgotten all the steps you’ve taken to get to this place and your brain is berating you for not moving fast enough – you have evidence of the contrary. This one can be harder for me, but I’m working on it and trying different tools to support.
Make time to reflect. I want to be a journal writer, but I’m not. I can’t, or won’t, make the time consistently. But – I have discovered that I do my best thinking, reflecting, and dot-connecting when I’m out on a walk with my dog. It never feels like a chore or a to-do, it just happens when I’m out in nature doing something I love.
Share progress. This can be hard to do because you may want to hold back until it’s ‘good enough’ or ‘finished’, but sharing progress along the way helps you see the progress you’ve made while also creating opportunity for questions and new perspectives that might redirect or clarify the work.
Even doing these things, I’m still a work in progress. Once the current design phase is complete and I move on to development, I can all but guarantee that when day one of building comes to an end, I’ll still feel unrealistic and ridiculous disappointment over not having finished the entire thing. But I feel that way less each time and the frustration passes more quickly than it used to. Progress!
