#19 Smallify

Accomplish big things by going small.

Everyone that gazes at Petra's most famous icon, "The Treasury," can't help but wonder, how did they do it? 

Understanding their "secret" can help us tackle big challenges of our own.

Here's how they did it and what we can learn.

Photo by Andrea Leopardi on Unsplash

The Nabateans built Petra's "Treasury" at the beginning of the 1st century AD.

The facade is 25 meters/82 feet wide by 39 meters/128 feet high. The chamber inside can fit two Olympic-sized swimming pools.

With no margin for error, how were the architects and craftsmen able to obtain such flawless results?

Even as years passed, new talent joined the project and considering the simple tools that were available like pickaxes, chisels and oil lamps.

The key is so simple, it hurts. They "smallified".

The term "smallifying" was coined by Bing Gordon, co-founder and former CEO of the video game company Electronic Arts (EA).

Photo: Kleiner Perkins

Smallifying: The strategy of breaking a project down into discrete, relatively small problems to be resolved one by one.

He realized that when teams worked on long-term projects, they were inefficient and made several mistakes.

Photo: Electronic Arts

But when tasks were broken down into small problems, they were more manageable. They could be tackled faster and with more consistency.

When they "smallified" their projects, developers became more creative, productive and less overwhelmed. Plus the overall quality of their projects improved.

So how did the Nabateans build "The Treasury"?

1. They designed the desired outcome.

   • Architects and specialists decided how they wanted the facade to look like and what they wanted to accomplish.

2. They prepared the right "workspace" to do it.

   • Stonecutters identified the ideal surface on the stone cliff for the facade.

   • They gathered the right men and available tools.

   • Then they polished the surface to create a smooth blank canvas to work in.

3. They "smallified"

   • The architects broke the design of the facade into blocks.

   •  The craftsmen created a wooden frame proportional to the blocks of the architect's design.

     

4. They went one small block at a time.

   • Starting from the top and making their way down, the stonecutters placed the wooden frame on the polished wall to constrain the working space of the expert craftsman.

   • Then he sculpted the detailed design corresponding to the block of the architect's design. 

   • When they completed the design, they moved the wooden frame to work on the next block, and so on.

The Takeaway:

Break it down. 

The key to taking on a large project or solving a big problem is to break it down into smaller problems.

Because of Covid-19, every day we hear "you need to rethink your business," "life will never be the same," "you must have a plan and rebuild."

This is true and important.

But significant challenges like this can be overwhelming. 

Think about the big picture and what you want to accomplish, set the right workspace and tools, and then break it down into small manageable tasks.

What's the first thing you need to do? What's the second? And so on.

If you are not sure where to begin, I made a simple “Smallify Tool” you can use to break down your project into smaller steps.

One step at a time. One day at a time. 

Let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you.

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I hope you are well!

María Albert

@maria_albert13

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