I want to be able to move things forward by saying, “I went ahead and made it.”
This could make things a little easier. It would be good to improve that part. Even when I have ideas like these, I sometimes put them aside before mentioning them to anyone. Thinking about the effort of checking with others, the time procedures will take, and what people might think can make it harder to take the initiative.
Even though someone has things they want to improve, it can look from the outside as if they have no ideas they want to pursue.
One way to approach this is to make something small first, then show it to people with, “I tried making this.” For me, having something to show made it easier to start a conversation. Showing it also led to more opportunities to hear about difficulties and details of people’s work that I had not known about.
Learning About People’s Work Through a PDF Merging Tool
I once made a tool for processing PDFs in Python. When I showed someone its ability to merge sequentially numbered PDF files in order, they told me that inserting and saving large numbers of files had been a chore.
We ended up with an arrangement where they sent me numbered PDF files, and I merged them on my PC and sent them back. Taking on the merging meant more work for me. It is hard to call an increase in my workload a benefit in itself.
Still, through those exchanges, I had more opportunities, with permission, to ask what the files were and what they contained. There is information I probably would never have learned, and knowledge people probably would never have shared with me, if I had not shown them the PDF merging tool.
Sometimes I make tools to save myself effort. These include tools for converting HEIC images to JPEG and merging numbered PDFs.
There have been times when something I made because I wanted it turned out to be something people around me wanted too. A task I find tedious may be tedious for someone else as well.
It Is Easier to Start a Conversation When an Idea Looks Feasible
Even when I have an idea for an improvement, others may see it as something that would be nice to have but that they can manage without. If there is more pressing work to do, I think it is natural for them to decide that the idea does not warrant assigning it to someone as a task.
Having something that already works changes what we can discuss. After seeing what it can do, someone may decide, “We could use this with a few improvements.” If they already felt a need for it but were unsure whether it could be built, seeing it work gives them something concrete to consider.
I also found it easier to approach people when I could show them something. Even an idea that is hard to convey in words can be shown through something tangible. If people can picture where they would use it, we can also discuss missing features or other possible uses.
Of course, a working prototype does not mean it is ready to be introduced into everyday work. I need to explain what I have been able to test and which parts I have not yet worked on. Even so, I think that just having a clearer sense of what is feasible gives people more to base their decisions on.
Discovering Where a Tool Could Be Used After Building It
I also built a web system that transcribes meeting recordings and creates summaries and minutes. When I showed it to people, I learned that many of their meetings were held in person. Whether recording was allowed also limited where the tool could be used.
It is being used for meetings that can be recorded.
Still, I think I should have asked beforehand how many meetings took place online and in what situations the tool could actually be used. Even if a system that uses recordings works, that does not mean recording is allowed in the meetings where people want to use it.
Building something without knowing people’s circumstances or the history behind their work can lead to duplicated effort or rework. If a feature used to exist and was removed, the reason for its removal may mean that building it again would not lead to anyone using it. I want to ask what I can before making a prototype, and I also need to adjust the scope based on what I learn after showing it to people.
Keeping the Scope Within What I Can Take On
Building something in advance still takes time. I often break the work into small pieces, such as making a screen or implementing a single operation, so that I can see a result without spending too long on it. I repeat these short steps to gradually give an idea a tangible form.
For small tools I use in my daily work, such as PDF processing or image conversion, I build them to the point where the functionality is usable, leaving their appearance aside. Even then, I aim to spend no more than about 30 minutes to an hour. Spending too much time on a tool meant to save effort would be a problem in itself.
If I plan to show something to others, I also consider whether its scope would be manageable if I were asked to implement it. My criteria are whether I could take it on alongside my current work and whether it would avoid major changes to existing systems or ways of working.
For example, a change confined to one screen involves a different scope of responsibility from one that requires revisiting processing that affects other screens or changing the database. I want to consider both how easy something is to build and the workload it could create once people start using it.
As a rule, I want to keep experiments within the scope of what I can decide and handle myself. For ideas that go beyond that scope, I still want to present the proposal in a form that does not affect production environments or ongoing work. Whether to use it and how to introduce it are decisions to make with others, using the prototype as a basis for discussion.
Showing people something with, “I tried making this,” lets us talk concretely about where it could be used and what is missing.
Within the limits of what I can take on, I can make something that gives others a basis for judgment and bring it to them. I can turn the desire to improve something into a proposal we can discuss. Perhaps that is what it means to have the ability to move things forward.