The 30-Second Trick to Improve Speed, Clarity and Alignment
3D is a startup secret weapon!
There are no shortcuts at a startup. It’s consistent hard work over time.
Here’s the thing though…
Having internal clarity on:
what the work is
who is doing it
when it will be done
...can 5x 1 your company’s pace and effectiveness without changing anything else!
If you’ve ever said:
Me?!? I thought you were going to do it.
What came out of that awesome brainstorm session?
I feel like we have good meetings but nothing comes of it...
You need 3D:
📝 Do
🙋 DRI
📅 Date
The 3D Formula
Start here
After every meeting —formal or informal — ask a single question:
What are next steps?
1. **DO** Identify action items
Be specific!
Include numbers
✅ Send personal email to 10 customers for December user group
2. **DRI** Ask who will be the Directly Responsible Individual per item
Also called “owner” or “point person”
Only 1 DRI per item. 2 DRIs = no DRIs
✅ Send personal email to 10 customers for December user group (Kathryn)
3. **DATE** Ask DRI for due date
Always add buffer
No, really. It will take 2x longer than you think.
✅ Send personal email to 10 customers for December user group by Nov 15 (Kathryn)
Extra Credit
Pause. Reflect on your 3D list.
Think about overall company priorities.
Are these action items important?
Should DRIs prioritize this over other work?
Do these dates make sense given other company timelines?
😊 YES → Proceed. Enjoy the progress and clarity!
🙁 NO → Scrap everything without hesitation. You may have wasted time with this meeting but don’t make it worse. Get back to important things!
3D Recap:
📝 Do
🙋 DRI
📅 Date
Quick, simple, game-changing.
If you’re an early stage startup that wants to go faster, try this alignment and clarity tip. Let me know how it goes or if you’re one of the magical startups already doing it!
Estimated. Could be 2x, 10x, 1000x. No time to collect official data when we implemented this at Rigor and Pardot. We were moving too fast 😉
Thank you, excellent reminder!