Tony Robbin’s RPM and Software Development
June 18, 2007 – 1:57 amThe following are my methods/experiences in using Tony Robbin’s RPM method for software development. RPM stands for results, purpose and massive action.
Results
The first thing to do is clearly define the results. In software, this would be defining your unit and functional tests based upon requirements. Be sure to spend adequate time here or you are setting yourself up for a painful lesson in feature creep. This blog elaborates on the requirements capture process.
Purpose
Here is where you make sure that all your defined results link to some purpose that relates to fulfilling the clients requirements. If you are a perfectionist by nature, take extra care at this step to ensure you have not added requirements that are not absolutely necessary to fulfill the requirements. You will have time later (maybe) to enhance, that is if you get the fundamental requirements right.
Massive Action Plan
Now that you have your requirements clear, its time to get to work! Here is where you list out all the steps required to complete the defined results. After you have listed all of the steps, you will organize by priority and assign due dates to each step/task. Some items you will delegate and others you will delete. It is important to revisit your results regularly to stay on track and ensure a timely execution.
Note
Before Mr. Robbins coined the term RPM, he called this method OPA, which stands for outcome, purpose and actions.