I have read several things recently that spoke about under-committing and over-delivering. I first thought that this was a sacrifice of integrity, but that thought began to change as I read and thought about this more.
The concept, basically, is that you should inform your client that they will receive less than your believe you can deliver or that it will take a little longer than you think it will take. This will allow for “Murphy” (whatever can go wrong, will go wrong) to show up and you can still give what you promise.
One book I read (“Successful Freelancing for Web Designers”), stated that you should figure out how much time the project should take, and then add 50% to that. This allows time for things to interrupt and problems to interject themselves. If you still finish the project early, they suggest not to submit it early.
“What!?” I thought. “It would make them think that you are greater if you deliver it early!” Well, then I finished reading the paragraph.
They stated that it would be better then to go through the project and see how you can make it better. Add a bell here; a whistle there; shine the chrome a little. Then deliver a super-awesome project on-time. Your shiny project will make you shine even more!
Plus, they point out that if you finish early, it may set a pattern for the future. They, or another client, may expect all projects to be finished early. It would be better for them to expect you to be done on time, and you deliver a WOW product (as Michael Hyatt points out in “Platform”).
Question: How have you worked at trying to over-deliver?
Didn’t get a chance to comment on this when I read it earlier today, but I really like what you’ve got to say here Joshua. Don’t just finish early, use the extra time to polish up and push for wow factor. In today’s competitive environment, that very well could be what sets you above the rest….
Thanks for the inspiration to push for excellence today.
@Aaron Nelson The truth is that I need the push to keep striving for excellence myself. It’s too easy to slow down as you approach the finish line.
@JoshuaWRivers Yeah, I totally identify with that Joshua. It’s hard to keep the drive on ALL the way through. Not just at the beginning. The diligent prosper though….
Love this advice that if you finish early, go back and see how to make it better. I’m usually about the finishing, and giving myself an opportunity to improve it more makes a lot of sense. That could apply on work projects, writing, or personal projects. Thanks for the great post!
@CarolDublin That’s the beauty of finding and grasping principles: they apply in many, if not all, areas of our life! This is a “new” concept for me to work on. I’m usually the one to hurry up and get the work done and then turn it in right away. For me, it was usually pride, arrogance, and ego that led me to act this way: “Surely I wouldn’t have anything wrong!”