Release and React

There is a post over on Modern Marketing Blog that mentions the phrase ‘release and react’.

“Jimbo Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia gave a great talk at Reboot. I managed to grab him afterwards for a quick chat about the difficulties of growing at such speed (wikipedia was launched in 2001 and is now bigger than Britannica and Encarta combined). He told me that the key had been to..“

That is it! It may be presumptuous, but I think I know exactly what he is talking about. This is not a new idea, but it is a great phrase; it is also an idea I think is growing in popularity. I was listening to an old IT Conversations podcast with Ben and Mena Trott this morning, and ‘release and react’ was how they developed MovableType.

So here is my take. Release and React has two primary components; you must excel at both components if you want to be successful.

1. Release: I think we can borrow the open source adage here regardless of whether or not your project is open source, “Release early and often”. I am a believer of if it runs at all, release it. Get it out the door. It is nothing but an idea until you release it. Also, release it does not have to mean “releasing amid fanfare”; a quite release is fine. Releasing early will also get you ready for “continuous integration”.
2. React: You have to do this well. In the podcast I was listening to this morning, Ben and Mena were talking about trying to implement requests in the broadest way possible so that their product could be used in ways they didn’t intend. These unintended uses are what Web2.0 is all about. Also, in order to react successfully, you must be a good listener. Technorati, Feedster, and PubSub are good tools for listening.

Now I just need an idea to release…

Note: As I re-read this post I realized that I am only thinking of “react” in technical, software solution terms; I am not including a “spin campaign” as a legitimate form of reacting. Agile Development (and Continuous Integration) ensures you can react with a solution that you can then release (see how it is cyclical?). It is great to have a PR person like Scoble on your team, but if Microsoft was more Agile would they need Scoble?

Update:
Everyone who gives public access to beta products has a decent understanding of ‘release and react’, but I think they are hiding behind the ‘beta’ and as a result, getting less feedback after a release. I want a software company to say “Our products are not perfect, but here is the best we have right now”.