Follow up to last week…the notion of “Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.” E. W. Dijkstra
While we can lose the forest for the trees – meaning that the big picture can get subsumed by its small components…sometimes we miss the point of the picture because we have completely overlooked its component parts.
Often we try too hard to be big picture – think GMOOT – you remember – “Give Me One Of Those” – I have to do what others are doing – I have to be “innovative,” cool, leading edge…I need an all-up strategy…you get the point…
The challenge, then, as I see it is – what details do I need to know? – What components must I be versed in? – What information is critical for me to know versus what minutiae are just too much?
Seems to me that starting with need, outcome, expectation versus starting with I have to do this or that is a fundamental place to begin.
If we begin anything by trying to boil the Ocean… while we wait for the bubbles and the simmer, those who were merely making tea will be hosting parties and we will be stuck with checking the pot and then the flame and then the pot again…and on and on…all by our lonesome selves.
Listen:
“I’m astounded by people who want to ‘know’ the universe when it’s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.” Woody Allen
And there you have it.
Learn your neighborhood. Find its treasures…and there are many…know its resources – keep your eye on the Universe – but enjoy the company of active discovery along the way – rather than the loneliness of esoteric longing and empty posturing of trying to encompass it all at one time.
What do you think?
I always find it useful to ask people what it is they are really trying to do. What keeps them up nights. Only then can we solve for what is needed.
People loose sight of how important iteration is to innovation; start small and lean, review past learnings, sprint, measure, repeat. The first rule of project management applies here as it does anywhere else – the longer the project (the longer you go without trying and testing), the great the chance of failure (the more likely your solution will be irrelevant).
The print designer who understands the printing process is able to push their craft further. Astronomy is not about telescopes but try to become an astronomer without learning about telescopes.
know your neighbourhood indeed… but remember that the local is just as large as the global… a little thing called nano technology… there’s a whole universe right there in your back garden.
nano trends!
(Local) Insight is great for a solid foundation.