Scope Creep, Rubber Ducks and The Value of a Second Opinion

Sometimes you set out to complete a task and things just snowball. You start with the goal of replacing a lightbulb. Before you know it, you’re headed to the store with a long list of things you’ve convinced yourself you need to buy before you can get started. Even though you already have a lightbulb! (see the video at the end of this post for a laugh).

This kind of scope creep can be insidious because, to the person making the choices, each step makes perfect sense. When you have a second set of eyes on the problem though, the disconnect is a lot more visible.

Assume for a moment that we’re considering a messy real-world problem. In that world, there are almost always multiple ways to get a job done. All the way from “do nothing,” to creating the “most thorough solution ever.”

Depending on your point of view, some of these may be eliminated for one reason or another. Options that may seem truly that – optional – can feel a lot more necessary depending on your experience. Equally, goals that seem essential can turn out to be a lot more flexible than you thought.

The best way for leaders to avoid falling into these kinds of traps is to have a respected thought partner. If there’s only one person with the expertise to choose how to get the job done, they might miss something important. A diversity of opinions can help avoid a costly oversight.

If you are working with a single expert (or you are one), make sure you put in the time to get an outside perspective on the initial plan. If nothing else, bust out a Rubber Duck as a thought partner and explain to it what you are doing.

I’ll keep it brief this week, but leave you with a delightful short video from the TV show Malcolm in the Middle. If only it was so easy to see scope creep in action in our own projects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0