During the holiday season, I wrote a heartfelt tribute to my mother, an exceptional mentor. Initially, I hesitated, unsure about sharing such a personal story. Yet, the response was overwhelming. With over 10,000 views and countless heartfelt messages, it became clear how much her wisdom resonated with others. This humbling experience has inspired me to share more of her invaluable lessons, interwoven with my own journey in leadership.
New Year’s Goals
The start of a new year is a time of ambition, whether you’re leading a startup, managing an established enterprise, or setting personal goals. However, these aspirations can seem insurmountable, like towering elephants in the distance. Most people follow quarterly goals or OKRs on an annual plan or new year’s resolution. We all know how easily they can slip away as challenges arise. Underestimating resources or encountering unforeseen obstacles can lead to anxiety and the temptation to alter your course.
Embracing “Bite-Sized” Goals
Setting goals is crucial, but breaking them into manageable, “bite-sized” pieces is where the real magic happens. This approach was a cornerstone of my mother’s wisdom. She often cited the adage, “There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.” She may not have coined this phrase, but she certainly embodied it, especially when guiding me through challenging moments.
My Journey to Product Management: Perseverance in Action
I vividly recall my ambitious goal in 2014 of becoming a product manager, despite not having an engineering background. This goal felt as massive and intimidating as an elephant. My mother’s advice, shared from her permanent bed care, was both simple and profound: tackle it one bite at a time.
Defining a “Bite”: The Journey of Incremental Achievement
I saw a “bite” as developing a functional prototype for a product within three months that 100 people could use. When I shared this with her, she playfully challenged me to make even smaller bites. I would give a response, and she would playfully ask me, “can you make it into smaller bites?” This back-and-forth game, which we called the “game of bites,” eventually led to breaking down the goal to daily tasks. At first, I was perplexed, feeling distant from my original objective. But then, it dawned on me: I knew exactly what I needed to do each day. This method of setting monthly sub-goals, weekly milestones, and focusing daily on the single most important task was transformative. Mapping this tree of dependencies together made it clear to me how I would get to my original goal.
TeamLink Collaboration (TLC): A Journey from Concept to Market Success
The first prototype I developed, with part-time help from colleagues, was a product called TeamLink Collaboration (TLC). It simplified and gamified team introductions. By staying focused on the goal of enabling 100 users, I avoided over-complicating the design. Prototyped in 2014, it didn’t fully hit the market until 2017 in the form of TeamLink Extend, and it wasn’t until 2019 that we received a patent and saw adoption with meaningful revenue. It took nearly five years for the product to achieve meaningful market recognition, far longer than I had initially anticipated. But, without the “bite” mentality, I might never have broken down my 2014 goal to become a product manager into actionable steps, nor would the product have had the impact it did. My mother wasn’t an engineer or entrepreneur, but she understood that ambitious goals are achieved one step at a time.
Your 2024 Goals: Finding Your “Bite”
As you embark on this year’s journey, remember the significance of the elephant. Identify your “bite” and stay committed to it. I encourage you to play the “game of bites” with yourself, to see if you can keep making the bites smaller and map the relationships of all the bites. Through consistent, daily efforts, even the most daunting goals become achievable.
Thank you for joining me on this journey of shared wisdom and enduring lessons. Here’s to a year filled with achievable goals and the relentless pursuit of our dreams.