Did you ever complete a job thinking you’re done only to have someone come back and ask for more or they think you did it wrong. Perhaps they’re trying to get you to do more than you promised.
In my job we call that scope creep. That’s where the customer tries to get you to do more work than you promised. Sometimes we do that happily, but when we’re done we expect to walk away.
This happens in life and at work. Sometimes people want you to come back and do more than you promised. Sometimes we do, sometimes we can’t. It’s a judgment call.
Many times when we’re done with something, it only stays fresh in our minds for a short time. Mission complete.
It’s when someone wants you to come back and pick up where you left off that you have to ask why. I have helped people where we just did not have enough time or money to complete something. Then, a year later, they want you to help again. I have done this for friends and at work, but it’s painful. I just want to finish it when I am there for the first time. I want closure sooner than later. Sometimes we have to wait, but many projects can be done if you have all the resources.
On the other hand, I have done projects, mostly home projects or side projects which drag on and one. They may take over a year. I hate that, yet I continue to do it. Either I don’t have time or my heart is no longer in it. Why do I volunteer for these things? I ask myself that every time I do it.
I try to use better judgment and only pick projects that I can finish in a timely manner or a passion project. However, sometimes I am wrong or someone guilt’s me into something.
In the end, we all just want to complete your missions, if they’re short term projects. If you have a goal that is larger than imagined, either you have to make it a passion project or have some serious grit. Either way you have to care about moving it forward and hope you see some results sometime in the future.
Sometimes we can’t get the closure of Mission Complete! I don’t like that, but that’s how some projects are.