In basketball, and probably many other sports, you always want to finish strong. That is, you don’t want to waste all of your energy getting to the hoop and then not make your layup. Often, it’s so easy to caught up in the first part, it’s easy to lose focus or let up in that last second when it really matters.
I’ve found that same problem when trying to ship software. Even with short cycle of one of two weeks, there’s a constant struggle between finishing strong and shipping. There’s usually a few more bits of polish that I want to add and really finish it off, but at the same time, I’m dying to ship it and keep the momentum going.
Ultimately, it’s probably a good struggle, but it feels like deep-down quality really comes from finding a way to do both. That’s a more difficult struggle, but one that I’m starting to lean into. We’ll see how it goes.