Stop Chasing Chimeras
The Chimera of ancient Greek mythology was a nightmare amalgamation of lion, goat and snake. Like John Carpenter’s Thing, the Chimera was put together in a grotesque hodge podge, and it was very hard to slay.
Unfortunately, all too many websites, apps and other marketing executions become chimeras. The project lead immigrates, the brand manager starts her own agency, or the budget only allows for Great UI or Solid Development, but not both. The foundation is good, but due to lack of long-term planning and consideration for the end user, the building becomes a twisted monster.
I see so many clients chasing chimeras, ghastly amalgams of scattered code, with MacGyver style APIs sticking out all over the place, trying to solve problems that the previous code or designs never even considered.
Too often “Agile” is really an excuse used to protect egos that are so sunk cost biased that the Chimera is inevitably going to grow another head, or ten, before the weight and poison of the beast finally kills itself.
If you find yourself constantly making agile excuses, it is very possible you have a Chimera on your hands. And, Chimeras wonder about the country side devouring resources and destroying dreams. Stop chasing it and start starving it before it kills your business.
The simplest way to starve it is to ask: “How do we stop serving our own egos and start serving the end users? How can we make their lives easier, more exciting, more entertaining, more effective, simpler?”
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