What does success look like?

The iPhone officially became available in the United States today, at Apple and AT&T company stores.  I stopped by an Apple store in San Diego, to have a look at the crowds and play with the product that has caused so much passion and interest.

 Apple store employees greet customers and manage the lineup

Although initial reviews have been mostly positive, we don't yet know how well the iPhone will sell.  But one thing struck me about the launch: it was exciting.  The store employees seemed genuinely enthusiastic about it.  The visitors to the store could not get enough of holding the iPhone, playing with it, looking at it, touching it.  The employees around the store entrance clapped and hollered whenever a customer exited the store, especially if they had bought an iPhone.

When we start a new product development effort, formulating requirements is not enough.  We need to formulate a compelling vision of what success will look like and feel like for all the stakeholders, for employees as well as customers. 

Productivity expert David Allen uses the term "statement of wild success", and suggests building mind maps to capture different aspects of a vision.  Another idea I learned about from David Allen is to write an imaginary newspaper article or product review.  Indeed, prior to beginning work on his first book, Allen wrote an imagined book review.  The more ambitious the undertaking is, the more compelling the vision of success must be for the participants.

The Apple store employees I encountered clearly felt like winners.  I bet the engineers who worked on the iPhone feel that way too.  How do your people feel?  If they are lack passion for the project or if they are working hard and feel stuck, perhaps you need to ask the most basic of questions:

"Is this what success look like, and if not, what are we going to do about it?"