"Reviewing through the PDCA Model"

This article is Lu Canwei's 97th original piece.

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It's already April, and I'm preparing to write a review of March. I looked back at February's review, and it was truly a sight to behold.

I wonder how many people will remember what they did this month by the end of it? I don't know about everyone else, but I find it hard to remember.

Perhaps it's because I'm getting older, and my mind isn't as sharp as it used to be.

Why do we need to conduct reviews?

How do we know we have grown? By feeling? I remember seeing some projects from others and noticing that many people make mistakes on repetitive tasks, such as never writing technical documentation, not writing test cases, not documenting requirements, and having no specific task scheduling for projects. If we reviewed each project, we could draw these conclusions, but unfortunately, not everyone conducts reviews.

What about for ourselves? Even if we conduct good reviews within a team, we often neglect to review our own tasks, leading us to repeatedly make the same mistakes.

For example, many technically skilled individuals have the ability to implement ideas immediately, but the products they create often go unused. If they conducted a review at this point, they might realize that their user profile is unclear, rather than thinking that a lack of features is the reason for low usage. The more general the product is, the more unclear its positioning often becomes.

If we establish a self-review system, we can adjust in a timely manner to better achieve our goals or adjust our goals.

PDCA

So, do we have a better way to conduct reviews?

In quality management, there is a quality control process called PDCA. Let's look at the definition on Wikipedia:

It can be seen that we can first set a plan, then start executing, followed by reviewing and checking, and finally making adjustments to form a positive cycle. Can we also apply this methodology to our self-reviews?

P-Plan (Plan)

First, we need to set our goals, and these goals must be independent; otherwise, they will affect our execution. Imagine if your task depends on another task, how would you execute it?

Establishing goals is the most crucial step. We need to propose a specific and executable goal, not just a wish. For example, saying "I want to make money" is not a goal. Instead, how much do you want to earn—1,000 yuan, 10,000 yuan, 100,000 yuan, or 1 million yuan? Therefore, we need to set a specific goal plan. Goals should not be set too high, as this can easily lead to feelings of frustration and a lack of positive feedback. For instance, saying "I want 3,000 followers on my public account and to post daily for 365 days" is unrealistic before we even understand how to walk, let alone run.

Once we have set our preliminary goals, we can conduct reviews to compare what we planned to do.

D-Do (Execute)

With a plan, we can execute. When executing, we should create a checklist and complete the planned tasks according to priority. The more detailed the records during execution, the better we can identify where our problems lie during subsequent reviews.

This step also directly reflects whether we executed the plan. I remember setting several tasks to complete during the Spring Festival, but I only managed to do one. Later, during the review, I realized we overestimated ourselves, so plans must be made according to our capabilities.

C-Check (Check)

This is also the most important step, where we compare our execution results with our goals and analyze what went well and what didn't. Sometimes, not completing a task doesn't necessarily mean we didn't execute; it could be that the plan was incorrect. For example, if I set a goal to run a full marathon, but for someone who doesn't run regularly, attempting to run the full distance might lead to giving up in the first few kilometers. At this point, we can identify where our goals and execution went wrong.

A-Action (Adjust)

After executing and checking, we need to list our adjustment plans so that we can avoid making the same mistakes next time. For the areas where we performed well, we should summarize the reasons. If we can't identify the reasons, it might just be an illusion. For instance, if I invested in a certain asset and it increased in value, but I don't know why, I might also end up not understanding why it decreases later. For the areas where we didn't perform well, we need to come up with solutions. Even if there are no solutions, we can try other methods and avoid making mistakes with the same approach.

In conclusion

No matter how much we talk about methodology, it’s useless without action. Plan, execute, check, and adjust. Remember to review, review, and review again.

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