What’s Your Definition of “Done”?

You order a pizza for delivery. The person on the other end of the phone says it will be delivered in 30 minutes. An hour passes and no pizza. You call to see what’s up and are told, “Yep, it’s done. It’s sitting right here in front of me.”

They are technically correct but fundamentally wrong–because  your definition of “done” differs from theirs. The pizza isn’t doing you any good on the counter at the pizza shop. It needs to be delivered to your house for you to realize any benefit.

“The real definition of done is “ready to be used or deliver value to whomever is expecting it."“

It’s easy to fall into this trap at work. When someone asks if a certain project is done, do you find yourself saying any of the following?

• Yes, except for…

• Yes, as soon as…

• Yes, we just need to...

When a project could take days or maybe weeks to complete, the correct answer to the question is, “No. But, as soon as this next part is done it will be finished in <x> days.”

Then, get it done. Done done.

Change your vocabulary if you catch yourself using any of the expressions above. The dictionary definition of done is “completed; finished; through.” If there’s more to do, then it’s not complete, finished, nor through. It’s certainly not “ready to be used or deliver value to whomever is expecting it,” which is the real definition of done.