Reflection is the better part of valor.
There are an immeasurable number of problems that can only be solved by having the wisdom and taking the time to sit down and think about them. That said, if all you do is sit and think, while you definitely won’t have any problems you also won’t have much of anything else.
Paralysis
One common intuition is that every part of every action needs to be reasoned and considered. This makes sense and honestly is mostly correct. You have limited time and limited resources — one too many missteps can mean the difference between a successful launch and a slow death.
The problem with this line of thinking comes when it’s pushed too far and you start to ignore the fact that most solutions aren’t found on the first shot. Real solutions come through a process of iteration.
Today as a challenge, take the most difficult problem you have been facing off of the shelf, dust it off and come up with a way to deal with it. Make some phone calls, write some code, talk it out with your teammates — the point is do something.
Even if your initial “solution” doesn’t solve anything, at the very least it will get it moving in the right direction.
In the future, keep in mind that no amount of reflection will allow you to predict every angle. Sometimes, you just have to get something coherent down and see what happens. If you are careful, it won’t take long for you to see what changes need to be made.
Either that or you can always just add another column to your To-Do list.
This post is tagged
No Comments