Make it your own.

My wife and I are doing a renovation project on our kitchen.  So many lessons of this home project are applicable to my work projects.  Having a vision of the outcome is critical, of course.  Here is another.  To make this a successful project for us, it has to be a reflection of us.  My wife keeps emphasizing that we have to make sure our kitchen doesn’t turn out like a cookie cutter project you see in every magazine and website.  It has to be uniquely our own.  For us that means it can’t be a set of boxes and straight lines.  It has to have a sense of space and color.  The function has to match the way we live.

Well that’s true of successful projects of every ilk.  Your software design can’t be a cookie cutter project that is one size fits all.  What is your industry, your customer’s needs, the unique way your product or service reflects their needs and your core capabilities?  Even mundane things like financial process re-engineering has to reflect what is true about your company and your priorities.  Make it real, make it personal, make it work.