what about after?

big projects are a whirlwind.

it usually starts with a grand idea: some way you plan to change the world, or at least your little slice of it. there are whiteboards and idea journals and sticky notes and meetings and energy seeping out of every pore.

then you start building. you map out requirements and bin individual tasks into a larger master schedule. a plan of attack is created, resources allocated, and a battle rhythm established with daily or weekly meetings. you beat the drum and everyone pulls the oar in the same motion.

you beat the drum again.

and again. until finally you’ve done it.

you’ve created something from nothing—which is an amazing feat in itself—and yet you risked all of it. you risked all of it by not thinking about how to put that idea out into the world. how do you get people to care? how do you find the influential connectors who will help spread your idea throughout the world? how do you change people’s behavior and get them to cross that chasm between doing nothing and doing the thing you want them to do?

too many big projects fail because too many big projects never answer what may be the most critical question of all: what about after?