I know it takes time to plan a little Architecture. Sure it’s easier to set it up as you go (I’ll remember my password- I use the same one every time- that always works til it doesn’t). You can always come back later to connect the dots. Right? You can add the foundation after you build the house. Can’t you? Well I guess you can but my question to you is which is easier? To lay the foundation before you begin or to come back, jack up the house and add it later. The former may appear to get you moving faster but the latter will cost you far more time and money later.
Do you find yourself opting for the short term gain of taking action when compared with the long term gain of planning which saves time and money? I’m not talking strategy. I’m not talking business plans. I’m talking some architecture. Some decisiveness. Now I agree with the refinement approach. I say get it out there. I’ve written about perfection versus imperfection. I’m all for shipping as Seth Godin might say, but not at the expense of thinking just a wee bit first laddy.
Example- you get moving so fast that you look up and notice you have:
- 2 domain registrars
- 3 hosting companies
- 2 webmail accounts, one Gmail account a and a Yahoo account
- 2 CRM’s
- 2 personal facebook accounts (whoops didn’t realize the fan page was for your business)
- Several websites on different platforms with broken links and no taxonomy whatsoever
What could have been different if you’d made some architectural decisions along the way? We’re going to host with Hostgator or Bluehost. We’re registering all our domains with Godaddy. We are going to host our email and calendar sharing with a corporate Google Apps account. We are going to set up Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn correctly the first time. We’re going to document our passwords along the way in a secure but retrievable place. We’re going to put together a quick sitemap before we launch the next micro site or blog. We are going to collaborate with Basecamp. I’m an affiliate of some of these but they aren’t links so I guess I’m cool.
Pause, Think, Decide ( A Committed One), Ship, Refine, Repeat