MVK = Minimum Viable Kindness

If you’ve worked in the startup world, you probably know about the concept of MVPs - or Minimum Viable Products. Essentially, this is the stage of product development where teams stop standing in front of a white board talking about their great idea, and instead - just go out and ship a first version of whatever it is they are talking about! More than a prototype, an MVP is one small step, but also a giant leap for mankind - because MVPs go out and mingle with actual customers and get real world feedback. While there are many worthwhile books and videos about MVPs, the core strategy is as incredibly simple as it is challenging: get real people using your product as soon as humanly possible!

In addition to MVPs, another much less known but equally powerful strategy is MVC, or Minimum Viable Certainty. It turns out that in times of high stress, filled with fast paced variables and uncertain choices, creating a time bound shield of certainty allows our mind to slow down and focus on just the particular task at hand. This is a critical performance hack because lack of certainty freezes our minds into a state of hesitation and confusion. The deliberate and selective ability to make the best and minimally certain choice in the moment is how Navy Seals, high performance athletes and top executives are able to stay steady when under fire from from all sides. These high performers basically use certainty to suspend time and create a micro-moment in which they can give 100% energy and attention to what is in front of them. Not surprisingly, this super-human level of focus yields tremendous performance outcomes.

Having an MVC does not lead to a cocky kind of over confidence, but rather - a confidence born out of certainty in that moment. In other words - in today’s world, we rarely - if ever - have the time to wait for Maximum Certainty. If you need to wait for Maximum Certainty, you will be waiting a very, very, very long time. In todays world of accelerated change it is imperative to train yourself to be able to take action with Minimum Viable Certainty. (Rian Doris from Flow Collective has a great video that dives into the details of Micro-Missions and Minimum Viable Certainty.)

A third strategy to master is MVK, or Minimum Viable Kindness. While the terminology of “MVK” is not widespread, the principle is not new. “Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are,” was a favorite saying of Theodore Roosevelt. Mahatma Gandhi echoed this mindset - “The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”

Not only does sharing small acts of kindness help unlock unexpected energy in whatever project you are working on, but research into social network theory has found that small acts of kindness and happiness actually ripple across our social networks, spreading beyond immediate connections. Kindness is literally contagious over time and distance in ways we can’t fully predict!

Here we see a social graph of happiness spreading through social connections, with yellow representing happy people, and blue unhappy. A little kindness literally goes a long way and opens the door to many unexpected points of serendipity across the social grid.

By combining and activating these three powerful mindsets -
Minimum Viable Products,
Minimum Viable Certainty,
& Minimum Viable Kindness, 
- your Rocket Goals will gain incredible momentum by getting real world feedback, building certainty, and harnessing the immensely powerful and proven network effects of kindness and serendipity!