Why Use Steel Threads?

Today we're diving into why you should use Steel Threads: how they can help you get traction, engage with uncertainty, and learn faster.

A quick refresher: a steel thread is the tiniest possible end-to-end version of the thing that you want to make.

• It's a thread because it weaves through the entire length of the project.
• It's steel because it's strong enough to be the foundation for future improvements.

(That definition is adapted from a great post about using steel threads for software development by Jade Rubick: Steel threads are a technique that will make you a better software engineer.)

In the next post, we'll talk about how to make steel threads, but first let's look at why you would use this approach in the first place:

1. Steel threads help us get clarity.
2. They build and sustain our motivation to stay engaged with the work.
3. They improve the feedback we're getting as we build.

Sounds great, right? Yes, but remember there's no such thing as a benefit that doesn't have trade-offs. In future posts, we'll get into some of those trade-offs. We'll even talk about when this approach is not appropriate.

For now, let's unpack what steel threads offer us at their best.

Benefit #1: Get Clarity Amid Uncertainty, Ambiguity & Complexity

One of the most powerful reasons to use the steel thread approach is that steel threads help us get clarity.

All our creative work involves some level of uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity. Steel threads help us navigate all that unknown.

• They can illuminate what's going to be hard about a project, which is not always obvious up front.
• They uncover hidden tasks.
• They show us what skills and resources we're going to need.
• They give us insight into how we should sequence our work by uncovering hidden dependencies.

This series you're watching is the first video series that I've made for YouTube, and when I started the project, I had a lot of unknowns. Using the steel thread approach, I made a full end-to-end version of the very first video in the very first week: recording, editing, even uploading it to YouTube (even though I knew I wouldn't use my first draft).

That first steel thread uncovered a bunch of technical challenges, as well as small but crucial steps that I wasn't expecting or accounting for. I was able to update my plan for all the videos to incorporate that previously hidden work and adjust my production schedule to be more efficient and much more realistic.

Benefit #2: Build & Sustain Motivation

A second benefit of steel threads is building our motivation at the beginning and helping us sustain it over time.

• They make the next step feel less intimidating. Because each iteration is a manageable size and doesn't have to succeed, it's a little easier to get started, a little easier to take that next step.
• They keep us from getting stuck in one section. I've really benefited from the way steel threads keep me from spending far too long in one part of the project, usually where I feel most comfortable. In my case, I really like doing research. Steel threads push me to move past the research stage so that I'm getting in there and making a full draft of my book, or video, or app, or whatever. Steel threads give me a structure that moves me into those phases where I'm less comfortable and I get more practice working there, which also means that over time I have a broader area in which I do feel comfortable.
• They help us make consistent progress. Visible progress is hugely motivating. I have one client who was working on a bold plan to serve people in her community, and we were able to identify some steel threads that let her implement one part of that grand vision in about a month. Being able to get started right away and see real progress helped her stay motivated and it got the people she was working with and the people she was serving, excited about the bigger vision so that she had more support over the long term.
• They give us meaningful deadlines. There are few things more motivating than a deadline! With steel threads, we turn deadlines into our friends by giving frequent demos to a friendly audience. The deadline has some heft because we're showing our work to other people, but we set it up to be low stakes, so the stress is relatively low.

Benefit #3: Better Feedback Cycles

And finally, steel threads improve our feedback cycles.

• Get feedback faster. We're not waiting till the tail end of the project; we get real feedback through the entire process.
• Get better feedback. When we get that feedback, it's often higher quality because it's about the shape of the entire project, not just a little piece. I've seen this in action on my current novel. My last round of reader feedback was on a 20 page narrative outline, and I got feedback on some big plot and world building problems that would've been much harder to surface if I'd been getting feedback one chapter at a time.
• Get early signals about what "viable" means for this project. As we discussed in the first post, every round of feedback refines your understanding of what's actually viable for your project. Getting good feedback through the entire process helps you refine your understanding of what's going to succeed and why.

Steel Threads, Not Silver Bullets

Now. There are some things even the glorious steel thread will not do for you.

• Steel threads will not eliminate uncertainty. They'll help you explore it and make progress in spite of it. But if you're not facing uncertainty, you're not creating something new.
• They won't get rid of complexity. And if you think about it, would you really want to? Complexity is what makes the work fun and interesting and a worthy challenge. We just find a good way to navigate it.
• They won't make the creative process predictable. Steel threads are actually a response to the fact that most creative projects cannot be planned out in a tidy fashion.

There's a famous quote attributed to Mike Tyson: Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the face. Plans fall apart when we meet the real world. That's fine. Not even steel threads are going to put you "in control" of creativity.

Instead, I've come to think of steel threads as a method for being in conversation with your creative work. Every single project has its own personality. Author George Saunders often talks about this, how projects have needs and desires and their own whims.

Steel threads are a way to build structures that let you have a beautiful and productive conversation with your work.

A Steel Thread Exercise

Here's a little exercise before we close:

• Is it hard for you to get started?
• Maybe you love getting started, but it's hard to finish to get projects out the door.
• Maybe you lose steam in the messy middle, when you're in that "dark night of the soul" phase.
• Maybe you have a string of abandoned projects or a box of ideas you've never taken action on.

Understanding your pattern of getting stuck in creative work is key to designing your own steel threads. We'll get into the mechanics of how to do that in the next post.