A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timing so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket don’t get pissed off and buy another product instead.
Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.
The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution — on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line.
A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” – he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.
It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren't picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.
Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed.
A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin.
“Oh, that,” says one of the workers — “one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over….. “every time the bell rang”.
I Am Enough
This is a good talk that helped me, in part, get out of a situation where my sense of self was intertwined with my job. Although it was rightfully so, the strong reaction I got at an “I told you so” moment made me realize how I needed my boss to see what I did and how it mattered. I felt that was one way of living, where I say: it *is* frustrating to deal with such limited, blinded, task-oriented boss that only cares about her part of the job and nothing of human involvement. Yes, she should “acknowledge” what I did. Yes, I need to help *her* do her job even though it is her job to help me, because the bastard cannot help me.
But a better way is to take my personal triumph and quietly and very confidently add to my never-ending river of self-validation that needs no other to bestow and bequeath that honor upon me. To feel so strong when the moment comes and point it out if I felt like it. To even in an opposite moment at a year-end evaluation where that may not be seen and may be even devalued, I would happily pack my bags and leave and be ok loosing that easy income and NOT take it as an indictment on me. And be confident I can do well anywhere I go because...
I am enough.
But a better way is to take my personal triumph and quietly and very confidently add to my never-ending river of self-validation that needs no other to bestow and bequeath that honor upon me. To feel so strong when the moment comes and point it out if I felt like it. To even in an opposite moment at a year-end evaluation where that may not be seen and may be even devalued, I would happily pack my bags and leave and be ok loosing that easy income and NOT take it as an indictment on me. And be confident I can do well anywhere I go because...
I am enough.
Applying it at Home
The other day, I was asked "what I program" by an interested friend. I had to use the metaphor of how a word processor is a kind of editor that automates the parts to writing English essays and how I'm creating an editor that helps me program in my favorite language by streamlining the parts I like to be in my programming habits.
The moment I did that, my brain went wild. I immediately jumped into law automation, my favorite lost realm. It looks like others wish for that, too. Metaphorzing what I do is a slippy slope in my head. I was infected with it for a while.
First I'd like to share some reminders that helped me get out of it. Then I'll share the question that stumped and silenced it and helped focus and re-shape it for the better. It's a good reminder that the current startup world is a little bit "flip"-oriented, here. And that other alternatives to the prime gate to that, VCs, exists... here. Finally, it's not all fun and games, but lots of hardship, but it also depends on how you frame it, here.
The question that saved me from my mind freeze in la-la land was: how could my "purported" ideas for automating law apply in exact parallel ways to software? There. Think about that for a while. Hard, isn't it, to swallow one's own bitter pill.
...
I think I gotta acknowledge how case law tells you exactly how everything should be, down to exactly the range of what coffee temperature should be when served. And it's all supplied in a highly stylized manner. I think it is important to acknowledge the irresistability of all that... and just deal with it after I direct the cannon at myself first.
How can I parse new projects? Can I use documentation and use instructions to re-purpose a project? Can I recompile an algorithm in a different language? Voice recognition aside, can I use natural language as a limited domain interface? Can I have smart GUI tools that go beyond syntax highlighting, code references, completions, reminders of method definitions, error detection and debugging? What would that be like? Can I have enough tooling to make many projects fast, or a large project manageable by one person? Can I embed a kind of engine that could auto-correct "obvious" errors? Can I direct the engine towards an unknown project and have it manage it, as well; maybe even change it as needed?
That kind of stuff... first. I must also resist all social implications and focus on making them relevant in the first place. Goodness, so many things to be distracted with. But it's ok. I think I can do it.
The moment I did that, my brain went wild. I immediately jumped into law automation, my favorite lost realm. It looks like others wish for that, too. Metaphorzing what I do is a slippy slope in my head. I was infected with it for a while.
First I'd like to share some reminders that helped me get out of it. Then I'll share the question that stumped and silenced it and helped focus and re-shape it for the better. It's a good reminder that the current startup world is a little bit "flip"-oriented, here. And that other alternatives to the prime gate to that, VCs, exists... here. Finally, it's not all fun and games, but lots of hardship, but it also depends on how you frame it, here.
The question that saved me from my mind freeze in la-la land was: how could my "purported" ideas for automating law apply in exact parallel ways to software? There. Think about that for a while. Hard, isn't it, to swallow one's own bitter pill.
...
I think I gotta acknowledge how case law tells you exactly how everything should be, down to exactly the range of what coffee temperature should be when served. And it's all supplied in a highly stylized manner. I think it is important to acknowledge the irresistability of all that... and just deal with it after I direct the cannon at myself first.
How can I parse new projects? Can I use documentation and use instructions to re-purpose a project? Can I recompile an algorithm in a different language? Voice recognition aside, can I use natural language as a limited domain interface? Can I have smart GUI tools that go beyond syntax highlighting, code references, completions, reminders of method definitions, error detection and debugging? What would that be like? Can I have enough tooling to make many projects fast, or a large project manageable by one person? Can I embed a kind of engine that could auto-correct "obvious" errors? Can I direct the engine towards an unknown project and have it manage it, as well; maybe even change it as needed?
That kind of stuff... first. I must also resist all social implications and focus on making them relevant in the first place. Goodness, so many things to be distracted with. But it's ok. I think I can do it.
That's what I Remember
That's what I liked about him. Yes, I almost forgot why I even paid attention to the guy and was disturbed that he took this too far on the "jerk" and "control" scales. But that's what I remmeber.
When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you're life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money.Source
That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.
Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.
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