In conversation with the wonderful Carolyn Ellis today I learned a new term – “Beta Mindset”. The philosophy of which is this:
When entering into something new (launching/presenting, etc.) assume that you’re not launching the final product. That there will be insights to be gained, assumptions to validate (or adjust) and conversations to be had. Assume this is the first step of many. Doing so reduces stress and the need for everything to be perfect. It shifts you from a place of “defensive proving” to “curious testing”, and makes the whole experience far more enjoyable. It also all but guarantees that you’ll end up with a better end result.
For clarity, a Beta Mindset does not excuse sloppy work or last minute scrambles. You should still be putting everything you can into the project, but from an appreciation that you don’t yet have all the answers. Things will change. That’s ok. You can still do your best work with the information/tools you have.
