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Always a starter, never a finisher.

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Re: Always a starter, never a finisher.

#91

Post by richardw »

andrewflnr wrote: post #82
sfk wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not talking about you or your company, but a lot of Starters are excellent bullshitters. They have an idea that is the equivalent of "Lets go to the moon" and leave it to others to build a Saturn V rocket. The latter of course is just an implementation detail.

That's a separate problem from that of the OP. We're getting into definitions here, but I wouldn't call your bullshitting Starter a Starter at all. They're just a bullshitter. A Starter worthy of the name should at least draw up some detailed blueprints for the Saturn V. :)

Then they have to finish at least the detailed blueprints, which I imagine is quite a big project in itself. In the end, you'll need someone to finish the 'start'.

I'm a starter, but I know about finishing and I think it's a good skill to learn.

Re: Always a starter, never a finisher.

#93

Post by lusr »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #80

The problem is following a "maximizing" strategy, instead of a "satisficing" strategy. Maximizing means you do things based on what seems like the best possible path. Satisficing is focusing on the minimum requirements to reach your goal. Never finishing seems to be a combination of maximizing when you don't need to bother, and also failing to identify the true requirements for you. In order for you to start a succes…

Some great observations here that I've learned the hard way myself.

I have concluded differently, however, based on the following lesson I have learned repeatedly in all areas of life: until you do something, you often don't realize all the potential outcomes available. You can easily sit there today and think "ah but how the hell am I going to get customers?" and then choose never to work on your idea. That's OK - if you have something better to work on (where better = some other idea where positive, realistic evaluations of the "viable business" preconditions have been met and the total score beats the score of the current idea you're evaluating).

But if you don't have something better it's STILL a good plan to start working on your idea because (a) you'll learn something (b) you'll probably be (pleasantly) surprised, either because a solution will materialize that you didn't expect (are you really that brilliant and omnipotent that you can predict all outcomes?), OR because it will lead you to thinking of a new idea that doesn't have the same problem (how many successful start-ups switched ideas half-way through implementation?).

For instance, you might end up building product X that generates you 100,000 users but doesn't make much money, even though it doesn't cost much to run. But in the process of building X, you come up with idea Y, which turns out to be a great idea according to the preconditions but only if you have 10,000 users... ah but look, you can probably advertise Y on X and suddenly you're likely to have the users you need for Y to take off. By working on a problem, you unconsciously and implicitly start exploring related problem spaces. By not working on a problem... you can't solve it, or related problems you might not even have noticed yet.

Re: Always a starter, never a finisher.

#94

Post by realschool »

Its good to finishes projects, but its also important to realize that some projects can't ever be finished, or may not be worth the effort of completing them. That's not to say one should drop a project when it gets hard or to think your self out of completing it, but more to the idea of being reasonable about expectations while still trying your hardest.

Re: Always a starter, never a finisher.

#95

Post by wyan »

demian wrote: post #12

I had this problem, and this aproach helped me: First, indentify if you are stuck. Create metrics if needed ("if I don't advance this cuantitative variable in a week, then I'm officially stuck"). Second, when you are officially stuck, you need to make a formal and conscious decision to stop fully or keep going. Your current projects should have this 2 posible states: Stoped (with an optional of "until X happens") or…

+1

I never thought of doing this, but seems like a brilliant idea!

Re: Always a starter, never a finisher.

#96

Post by tomkin »

A lot of what you wrote hit home; I feel like I could have wrote that post myself. So, having ADHD myself, I gotta be that guy who asks the patently absurd but obvious question – have you ever been tested/diagnosed for adult ADHD? And in no way am I asking rhetorically.

You see, ADHD - or more specifically, ADHD/PI [1] - is commonly overlooked, with only 10% formally diagnosed [2]. ADHD/PI is sorta special because you're not the kid shouting out in class or having problems sitting still. To the average person, you'd just be suffering from depression or lack of sleep, etc. Cycles of started projects with nothing to show for is definitely a symptom of ADHD/PI, but of course, not a formal diagnosis.

Imposter's Syndrome [3] is something I think most ADHD/PI suffers can sympathize with. When we look at others execute tasks, we can say, "Ya, I could do that. I understand how that works." Execution is a whole other matter. Programming/Design is such an attractive gamut for someone with ADHD/PI because there is always something new to learn, or a better way of doing it, but the incredible need to execute can only be seen far, far away.

ADHD/PI doesn't represent a huge percentage of the population in general. But in our circles, I believe the percentage to be quite high. Anecdotally, 1/3 in the arts/marketing/web have strongly associated symptoms of ADHD/PI. Let me be clear: I am not suggesting that as much as 1/3 of people working in these fields have ADHD or ADHD/PI. Just that, in a sea of introverted people - how many are actually suffering with attention deficits and not knowing?

My over-arching point here is - it's important to get diagnosed. Even if you choose not to take prescription medication to treat it, at least you'll have awareness. And with that, you can identify with yourself a lot better.

EDIT: ADHD/PI is so different from what people would consider traditional ADHD symptoms that it has been suggested it should be considered a completely separate condition [4].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADHD_predominantly_inattentive

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_attention_deficit_hyperac...

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

[4] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1093/clipsy.8.4.489/ab...

Re: Always a starter, never a finisher.

#97

Post by minikomi »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #85

I have trouble finishing projects sometimes, too. I'm sure everyone does. The only way I've found to overcome it is to build something so simple that I can launch it before that initial endorphin rush subsides. Once it's out in the world and providing some modicum of value to me and others, I can start deriving joy from fixing that one thing or adding that other small feature that's keeping me from being able to do X…

Nice little project, thanks for this

Re: Always a starter, never a finisher.

#99

Post by Schwolop »

nyellin wrote: post #78
Schwolop wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cannot disagree more. Opening up my ideas to ridicule and critique has been the best thing I've ever done. I don't waste time on the bad ideas, people get behind the good ones, and people see that I'm always doing something . I don't have to deal with the "what happened to that project you were working on" question much because my standard answer is "Boy was that a good learning experience! I showed it to X, Y, and…

I'm not advocating working on projects in secret. Once you have something even slightly ready, by all means share it. Incessantly talking about what you're going to do before you've done anything isn't admirable in my books.

Ok, I agree with this now, but it's different to what you originally stated; "Don't tell people what you are working on until you finish it."

I'd say "Don't tell people what you are working on until you start it."

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