"Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
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Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#2Is it just my being aware of it, or is this current of thought popping up in more places lately? "The Black Swan" comes to mind, "The Wisdom of Crowds" is along these lines. It's certainly not new - it seems to be one of Hayek's central ideas.
One of the things that greatly attracts me to startups is the ability to work like this... I loathe rigid schedules and attempts to plan out things in minute detail. What I prefer is an aggressive schedule (you need to set some dates, lest you wander), and a general plan of attack, and quality people that can change tack if needs be.
Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#3I love this philosophy. I first realized this while writing essays. I used to stare at the "Keyhole Method" diagram and conjure an intro, examples and a conclusion. They always sucked but the diagram made it seem so easy. When I started writing on my own for fun I would just launch right into the examples and find a pattern as I went. It almost always turned out that the last paragraph I wrote, the moment of clarity that tied it all together, would become the introduction.
Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#4Is it just my being aware of it, or is this current of thought popping up in more places lately? "The Black Swan" comes to mind, "The Wisdom of Crowds" is along these lines. It's certainly not new - it seems to be one of Hayek's central ideas. One of the things that greatly attracts me to startups is the ability to work like this... I loathe rigid schedules and attempts to plan out things in minute detail. What I pre…
The 'Black Swan' is indeed a bit of mind-bender. I am reading it for the second time. I just noticed, that I have underlined something, in practically every page.
Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#5i think knowing a system by playing with it gives a much better perspective than simply theorizing about it. generally, if you "know" the system, you don't have to do much theorization -- the solutions are obvious
unfortunately, not everyone is suited for that sort of learning. and in fact i would say most people aren't able to "know" using any method. for these people a decent plan can be beneficial, but technical subjects require a minimal degree of playfulness. their capricious details aren't very forgiving to fine plans, and you'll probably find most of these people don't become programmers :)
... or they become java programmers?
Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#6Is it just my being aware of it, or is this current of thought popping up in more places lately? "The Black Swan" comes to mind, "The Wisdom of Crowds" is along these lines. It's certainly not new - it seems to be one of Hayek's central ideas. One of the things that greatly attracts me to startups is the ability to work like this... I loathe rigid schedules and attempts to plan out things in minute detail. What I pre…
The 'Black Swan' is indeed a bit of mind-bender. I am reading it for the second time. I just noticed, that I have underlined something, in practically every page.
"Why most things fail" by Paul Ormerod is pretty good too, although the writing style isn't quite so direct, and it leaves you wondering a little bit more than the Black Swan.
Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#7Wow. I like this article a lot. I think it captures the essence of what we're all talking about.
Having said that, it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. I certainly wouldn't want my brain surgeon saying "Hey. Let's just cut this schmuck's head open and see what we get, okay? Where's that can opener?"
A startup looking for user desires and aligning them with economics is a simple system. Act more and plan less to do it right. Brain surgery, creating the space shuttle code, or integrating all of GE's client software is not a simple system. Here's the kicker: some of these are complex because of the underlying nature of the problem (brain surgery) and some are complex because of the underlying nature of the _people_ (GE). Still, the end is the same. No amount of fast prototyping and "users love me" is going to fly in a complex environment. Now you might invent it and sell it to GE, but that's a different story. Simple environments mean you have to plan to answer simple questions, like "am I making something that users want?". Complex environments mean you have to plan to answer all kinds of other questions, like "How do I communicate what we're doing to 30 important stakeholders, some of whom may not like our project?" BTW, I hate complex environments.
So yes, by all means make something quickly and adapt. But know when that strategy works and when it doesn't.
Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#8It seems like the key point of his idea is that induction is the key to success. Edison used a massive amount of induction (experimentation) and prototyping while exploring the big idea of a light bulb - and things worked out well for him :). I think you can also argue that a plan based on prior induction makes for a much cleaner, faster, and better built prototype.
Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#9Wow. I like this article a lot. I think it captures the essence of what we're all talking about. Having said that, it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. I certainly wouldn't want my brain surgeon saying "Hey. Let's just cut this schmuck's head open and see what we get, okay? Where's that can opener?" A startup looking for user desires and aligning them with economics is a simple system. Act more and plan less to…
Actually, I would bet that brain surgery is difficult, rather than particularly complex. Indeed, your scope for action is probably pretty limited compared with writing a huge program.
And... brain surgeons probably practice (start doing) on animals or something else before trying it on people. At least I hope they do.
Re: "Planning" is highly overrated. The best performers seesaw between "ideas" and "actions."
#10Wow. I like this article a lot. I think it captures the essence of what we're all talking about. Having said that, it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. I certainly wouldn't want my brain surgeon saying "Hey. Let's just cut this schmuck's head open and see what we get, okay? Where's that can opener?" A startup looking for user desires and aligning them with economics is a simple system. Act more and plan less to…
Actually, I would bet that brain surgery is difficult, rather than particularly complex. Indeed, your scope for action is probably pretty limited compared with writing a huge program. And... brain surgeons probably practice (start doing) on animals or something else before trying it on people. At least I hope they do.
I've always heard the brain was the most complex thing that we know about. And I've always heard that brain surgeons spend a considerable amount of time planning some operations due to the complexity involved (although I am sure not all operations).