Methods. Processes. Systems. Turn-key solution. Plug-and-play. Just add water. We have a hunger for processes, especially for tested and repeatable processes, in our website-creating. What, we ask imploringly, is the Right Way to run my website/write my content/build my followers/scale my offerings/make $17,263.97 in the next month?
The internet is new(ish), and fast-changing, and risky, and operates on a badly-articulated handful of rules. It’s uncertain, and uncertainty scares the bejeezus out of us. So we respond! We want processes to handle our Twitter, and methods for writing content, and systems to organise our tools… not because we truly desire the most optimised result, but because we want to feel confident.
There are stadiums full of people who will give or sell you processes: some want to help and some are scumbags. Some Believe in their Method with the evangelical zeal of an old-time preacher, and some of them… some of us… are working from the Big Secret:
The methods don’t matter.
The method is a magical feather. It’s a placebo. There are no super-magnifico systems that will solve every problem and climb every mountain… there’s just hard work, and the confidence to do it.*
Big important note: just because it’s a placebo doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. The magical feather that I give you is “No matter how intimidating/emotional/overwhelming/boring it is, you know you can do it for 5 minutes. Let’s get started.” Is that a magic wand? Hell no! If it works for you it’s because you know (and I know) that the first step is the one where we tend to give up. If you can start getting traction, you can start doing the work. And “doing the work” is the point. It’s not magic, but it is kick-ass. There’s nothing wrong with using a magical feather to get through the scary part.
Where it all goes wrong
1. Boy meets method.
2. Method helps boy to connect on social media.
3. Boy gets 500 extra followers on Twitter.
4. Boy falls in love with method.
5. Boy thinks that the method is the One True Way.
6. Boy realises that the method isn’t good at some things.
7. Boy refuses to try any other methods.
8. Boy’s business goes bankrupt.
You have to remember: the method isn’t doing the work, you are. Don’t be blindly faithful, use the tools with open eyes. And manage them, too.
The system for systems
1. Take a measurement of what results you’re getting now, i.e. your subscribers/visits per day/sales.
2. Try the system for a predefined time period.
3. Measure the outcome the system promises.
4. Measure how much of a pain in the ass the system is to use.
5. Judge, based on the last two measurements, whether the system is working.
6. If not, tweak or abandon.
7. If so, continue to monitor and review.
Other helpful stuff
Mix’n'match methods
Don’t be afraid to blend systems. My email management is two parts GTD, a hefty splash of 30 Hours a Day with a dash of 4-Hour Work Week. None of those processes would quite do the trick by itself, so I took the bits I liked and put them together. You’ll still be able to fly if you strip the pinfeathers from your magic feather and dye it neon pink.
Only you can walk the path
Don’t stress because someone else’s system is better, or neater, or has a cleverer name. Processes are personal.
Your method is a success if it gets you to do the work.
It is a failure if it does not get you to do the work.
Your five-minute mission, should you choose to accept it…
Choose one system and apply the System for Systems to it. Step back from your emotional need for an authority figure, and measure the real success of what you’re doing. And if it sucks, change it. I have just the process to help… kidding. Kidding!
What are you going to measure? Tell us in the comments!
*Yes, you also need skills. But if you have the skills you generally have the confidence to go with them. The situation we’re talking about here is for when the basic skills (i.e. written English) are in place, but we don’t have, or don’t know we have, the Other Stuff.