Roughly every five years North Korea holds an election. Yes, the same country that kidnaps movie stars, mandates 28 state-approved hairstyles,¹ purges its capital city of all short people,² and threatens the world with nuclear Armageddon, also holds elections. Voters approve a single name on a single ballot with a single “yes” or “no” vote. It is a remarkably simple process. Dictatorship can be wildly efficient.

The last election, held in March 2014,³ resulted in unanimous agreement: with a reported 99% turnout in all 687 districts, the civic-minded inhabitants of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea approved their leader without a single dissenting vote—out of 25 million.⁴ But, like many other processes, its potential was never realized by the people who needed it most.

Although we may sometimes act like tiny despots, we often rely on the help of others. A modern-day digital project involves managers, copywriters, designers, developers, subject matter experts, testers, and others. Each person filling these roles serves both as a worker and a collaborator, simultaneously advancing an idiosyncratic agenda and a team’s overall mission. Where we succeed is where these two goals converge; when we falter is when they veer off course.

You may be a high-powered executive, a college intern, or someone in between; yet, our day-to-day experiences create patterns of surprisingly similar struggles and triumphs. We all face disappointment and seek inspiration. We see confusion turn into clarity and witness progress dissolve into chaos.

You might think we would be better at recognizing these patterns. After all, the better part of our waking lives is dedicated to work—90,000 hours, on average.⁵ Perhaps we do not recognize these patterns because are too busy to notice; yet, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report,⁶ Americans work more or less the same number of hours per week as we did in 1976. It could be because we work in increasingly varied environments; although, many of us work in nearly homogenous socioeconomic bubbles.⁷ Or, maybe we do not recognize these patterns because we have simply stopped trying. If we wish to revolutionize our work, we need a process.

This section of the book helps you create a process that suits your particular needs. It covers the creation, management, and execution of digital projects. We will discuss what usually works and what often does not, detailing a full range of subjects from Agile to user testing.

In the end, we judge a process by the value it creates: project clarity, team happiness, and financial gain. Perfection is not our goal. We wish only to improve the experience of our products, our users, and ourselves.

Let the revolution begin.