So I figured out the success loop.

It took me a while, but I finally got it.

Let me give it to you right up front:

idea > test > failure > revise

Have an idea. Create a simple version. Test it. Fail. Revise. Restart.

Simple right?

But what do most people do (myself included)?

idea > ruminate > research > create > fail

Have an idea. Think about it forever. Research it at length. Create a “perfect” product. Launch (and likely fail).

See the difference? The first process—the Success Loop—is like a hyper-car. It’s fast. It’s agile. It doesn’t dawdle.

The second? It’s like trying to drive cross-country in a tank. It’s slow, clunky, and far too invested in defending itself from imagined threats. It grinds forward cautiously, terrified of making mistakes, only to stall out when things don’t go perfectly.

I learned this the hard way.

The Cost of Perfection

When I started managing projects, I believed in the myth of perfection. I’d spend weeks (or months) agonizing over the perfect plan.

Every detail had to align.

Every risk had to be mitigated.

In my head, failure wasn’t an option because failure meant I wasn’t good at my job.

The result? I became a ruminator. I’d dream up ambitious ideas but get stuck in a cycle of overthinking and overpreparing. When I finally got around to creating something, it was bloated with assumptions and overly complicated.

And you know what? It failed anyway.

It just took me a long time to figure it out.

Discovering the Success Loop

I don’t know exactly when it clicked, but I do remember the first time I intentionally used the Success Loop.

It was during a smaller project—a workflow for improving the time it took our team to respond to queries. I had an idea for a solution, but this time, instead of diving into research or overplanning, I decided to test it quickly.

I sketched out a bare-bones process on paper. Then, I grabbed a few team members and asked them to try it for a day.

The result? Failure. Big time. The process was confusing, and several steps didn’t make sense in practice. But instead of being discouraged, I saw the feedback for what it was: pure gold.

We revised the process, tried it again, and kept tweaking until it worked. In the end, we developed something simple, effective, and easy for everyone to adopt.

That’s when I realised the power of the loop: Idea > Test > Failure > Revise.

Why the Success Loop Works

The brilliance of the Success Loop lies in its speed and adaptability.

Instead of trying to predict every potential issue upfront, you put your idea into the real world as quickly as possible. You let reality test it for you. When it inevitably fails, you use those failures as insights to make your next attempt better.

Compare that to the traditional approach most of us default to:

1. Have an idea.

2. Ruminate endlessly.

3. Research to the point of paralysis.

4. Build something overly complex.

5. Launch, only to realize it doesn’t work.

The traditional approach prioritizes avoiding failure, which ironically leads to bigger, more costly failures. The Success Loop embraces failure as a necessary and valuable step toward progress.

Applying the Loop in Project Management

Let’s bring this into the world of project management. How many times have you seen a project stall because the team was stuck in the planning phase? Or worse, how many projects have launched with a “perfect” plan, only to crash and burn when reality didn’t align with expectations?

The Success Loop flips this on its head. It allows you to:

1. Test Assumptions Early

Every project plan is built on assumptions. Instead of locking those assumptions into a rigid framework, the Success Loop encourages you to test them right away.

2. Fail Small, Fail Fast

By starting with a simple test, you limit the scope of failure. It’s much easier (and less costly) to revise a small pilot project than to overhaul a massive rollout.

3. Iterate Toward Excellence

Each loop through the cycle brings you closer to a solution that actually works. It’s an iterative process that values learning over premature perfection.

The Hyper-Car vs. The Tank

Think about the projects you’re managing right now. Are you moving through them with the speed and agility of a hyper-car, or are you lumbering along in a tank?

The hyper-car represents the Success Loop: quick iterations, nimble adjustments, and a willingness to embrace failure as part of the journey. The tank represents the old way of thinking: slow, cumbersome, and paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes.

The hyper-car approach doesn’t mean you’re careless or reckless. It means you’re focused on moving forward, learning as you go, and building momentum.

The Bottom Line

The Success Loop is a mindset. It’s about valuing action over analysis, learning over perfection, and progress over paralysis.