Okay, let’s talk about something that stuck with me, related to this name, Chris Mullinax. It wasn’t like a formal course or anything, more like stumbling onto some ideas, maybe online or in a discussion somewhere, tied to that name.
Finding a Simple Path
I remember being really bogged down on a project a while back. We were trying to get this internal system off the ground, and honestly, it was becoming a mess. Everyone wanted everything included. Features piled up, the specs got thicker, and we weren’t actually building much, just talking and planning in circles. Felt like we were sinking in complexity, you know? Just couldn’t get any real traction.
Around that time, I came across this perspective, somehow connected to Chris Mullinax – maybe something he wrote or said. The core idea that hit me was about brutally simplifying. Like, cutting out all the noise and asking: what’s the one essential thing this needs to do? Forget the bells and whistles, just the absolute must-have function.
Putting it into Practice
So, I decided to try it. It felt a bit weird because everyone was pushing for more, not less.
- First, I literally sat down by myself, away from the team meetings.
- I took a piece of paper and tried to write down, in one simple sentence, the absolute main goal. Took me a few tries, kept refining it, stripping words away.
- Then, in our next meeting, I didn’t present a grand new plan. I just started asking questions differently.
- I’d say things like, “Okay, let’s pause the wish list. If this tool did absolutely nothing else, what’s the single most critical problem it solves?”
- It forced a different kind of conversation. People had to defend the core value, not just their pet features.
- We basically debated until we boiled it down to one essential function everyone agreed was non-negotiable.
- This became our guiding star. Every other feature someone suggested, we asked: “Does this directly help achieve that core function right now?”
- If the answer was no, or maybe, we chucked it onto a ‘Phase 2’ or ‘Nice-to-Have Later’ list. We were ruthless about it.
What Happened Next
It was like clearing fog. Suddenly, the path forward was much clearer. We focused all our energy on building just that core piece. And guess what? We got a working version up much faster than anyone expected. It wasn’t perfect, didn’t have all the fancy extras, but it did the main job reliably.
People started using it immediately because it solved that core problem. And the funny thing? A lot of those ‘Phase 2’ features? We realized later we didn’t even need them. The simple version was good enough, or the needs had changed by the time we might have gotten to them.
So yeah, that whole experience, prompted by that Mullinax-associated idea of radical simplification, really changed how I approach the start of complex projects now. Cut the fat early. Focus on the essential. Get something working. It sounds simple, but it’s surprisingly hard to stick to when everyone’s excited about possibilities. It was a good lesson learned through doing.
