Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1301IR // #c1301Synthesis

"“Previously, we were built for large-scale project implementations. We’d take three to five years and roll them out only when they were as close to perfect as we could get them." "We’ll take a limited scope, implement, and iterate. We move a lot faster.”"

— In our words · Source: Digital Impact (Steve Lucas)

[Use when]

Your team holds releases until they're nearly perfect and projects take years.

[Why it matters]

The Credit Union of Colorado switched from multi-year launches to small releases. It built integrations nearly five times faster, and its new digital member experience contributed to a 5% leap in NPS scores. Aiming for perfect at launch had mostly made launches late.

Filed under situations:When you’re building the thing, not just planning itWhen new tech lands in your work

More from Digital Impact

#c1300"“We’ve learned to bite off smaller pieces with our integrations, get them working well, and then expand." "When they ask for a car, they…You're building something large for non-technical stakeholders who need to see progress. #c1302"They want to pick up the phone because that might be their weekly conversation with somebody." "Efficiency isn’t always the right measure…You're automating away a customer touchpoint and measuring only time saved. #c1303"Instead, ask yourself, “How will this initiative make life easier for the actual people who have to use it?”" "It actually creates failure…You're approving a technology project justified by the system rather than the user.

Same situation, different book

#c1561The Canon: Sensory Infallibility, Preconceptions, and "Waiting"Use when diagnosing why a high-stakes analysis, intelligence assessment, or debugging effort went wrong…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers #c1551The Tripartite Organism: Logic as Bone, Physics as Flesh, Ethics as SoulDesigning a curriculum, worldbuilding a belief system, or diagnosing why a team's rigorous process (Logic) is…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers #c1545The Cosmic Vortex and the Planetary MembraneUse when designing self-organizing markets, talent incubators, or creative communities where high-collision…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers #c1536Thales's Ensouled Matter and Cosmological SuperlativesUse when scoping a complex strategy or world-building architecture and you need to separate negotiable design…From Lives of Eminent Philosophers