Start? Stop? Continue?

I was at my last job for almost five years. On my first day, we visited a client and helped tie grapevines to the trellis. We were a small marketing agency. Every year, we had a company retreat, a few days somewhere nice and cozy, and figured out what the year's focus would be. Each year, we grew a bit more which means more points of view. So, we would get out the sticky notes, draw three columns on the whiteboard and write, “Start”, “Stop” and “Continue” at the top of each of them. Everyone had a chance to express what they felt was working and what was not. We would go through each note and discuss them as a team. After dinner, we would play board games, cards, and a lot of Jackbox Games.

As the team grew, so did the size of the room. Having everyone come up and place their sticky notes took longer than before. The board filled up faster, and sometimes sticky notes would fall off. They eventually started using red green and yellow sticky notes. By the time we started the discussion phase, it was a mad dash to get through everything since time was running out and there would be a lot of duplicates. By the end, someone would take a photo of the board and collect all the sticky notes to sort them out later. The idea was born on one of those retreats, making “Start Stop Continue” a JackBox-like activity. We all had smartphones, so why were we still using sticky notes?

That same year, Mario Maker 2 for the Nintendo Switch was released. I built a Web App that facilitated making full games out of your disconnected levels. It got way more attention than I had expected. Motivated by my recent success, I began work on a prototype, hoping to have something ready for the next retreat.

That was in 2019. There would not be another retreat.

As in-person gatherings became Zoom calls, I got frustrated that I hadn’t thought of my idea sooner. Many startups formed to make online meeting tools, virtual team building, and online escape rooms. Games where people could hang out and relax became massive hits. Games such as Animal Crossing, Minecraft, Fortnite, and the aforementioned, Jackbox Games. With the weight of what was happening in the world, not being able to see family, and having to work twice as many hours just to make ends meet, I lost the motivation to work on my idea. I figured that someone with more time and money would build it better.

I started at my current job as a part-time contractor. A year later, I joined as a full-time employee. However, Covid restrictions were still in place. It wasn’t until a few years later that I got to visit the head office. As part of the marketing team, I flew in for their yearly onsite. Our department has many sub-departments, such as creative, sales, field, communications, growth, etc. Our marketing onsite had 5-6 times more people than my previous retreats. I met people I had only seen in Slack profile photos and Zoom calls. We talked, had breakout sessions, and watched presentations and videos on a large screen in this modern open-concept office. Eventually, a few whiteboards were rolled in, with different company goals written on them. We were handed three sticky notes and asked to place them on the whiteboard we felt needed the most focus for the following year.

Eight years after I put my first sticky note on the whiteboard, and nearly three years after the world had to pivot from physical to digital, nothing had changed.

It was shocking, I thought for sure someone had figured it out. I had seen so many other companies try similar ideas at the start of COVID-19 that I figured I had missed my chance. After some research, I noticed that other solutions had too many barriers to entry and were overly complicated. These companies wanted to turn their ideas into businesses, and who wouldn’t? However, getting people to sign up, pay for a subscription, and use unfamiliar systems instead of what they already knew deterred them. Why go through all that when they could buy sticky notes and pens?

So I revived my idea and made it as simple as possible. No login required, no subscriptions, one click and you’re up and running. I’ve since applied the same logic to all my other activities. Quick, free, simple, interactive, and fun. Does any of this make good business sense? Probably not. I can see my website traffic, in that it has very little. Few people will likely read this entire blog post. (Hi Mom! ) I’ve had ideas that end up in the “Stop” column, but most of the time, my ideas stay ideas. However, the few times I have pushed myself to complete them, I’ve found it valuable. Sometimes, it’s the satisfaction of putting something out in the world you’re proud of even if few people will see it. Other times, a journalist you’ve followed for eight years reaches out and writes an article about it.

A coworker recently shared an article in our team’s Slack. Someone had recommended it to him and felt we might also find it useful. It was an article about the values of "Start Stop Continue" I laughed and shared a link to my website. I don’t know what will happen to Reactvts. It may eventually land in the “Stop” Column. If it does, I’m glad I first put it in the “Start” column.