Melanie Perkins
Crazy Big Goals First
Inspired by Melanie Perkins episode
Best product teams ship MVPs, not perfect products. They learn from real usage. Try messy art projects - done beats perfect. Learning beats pristine.
Melanie Perkins didn't start Canva by asking 'what's achievable?' She started with 'what would be amazing?' Democratize design for the entire world. Sounds insane. That's why it worked.
Here's the thing about starting with the crazy goal: you bypass all the reasonable thinking that keeps you trapped in incremental hell. You want a bedtime routine you can sustain? Congratulations, you've optimized for survival. You want a relationship where your kid actually tells you things in high school? Now we're talking.
Work backwards from the absurd vision. You want them confident? Okay, what does Tuesday look like when they're melting down about their drawing? You want them to take risks? Cool, how do you react when they announce they're climbing the bookshelf to reach the moon?
The audacious goal isn't the destination. It's the thing that makes today look completely different. You're not managing tantrums anymore. You're building a human.
