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Comment by TheAlchemist

3 hours ago

"Doing it badly is doing the thing."

This one works for me, and I've learned it from a post on HN. Whenever I feel stuck or overthink how to do something, just do it first - even with all the flaws that I'm already aware of, and if it feels almost painful to do it so badly. Then improve it a bit, then a bit, then before I know it a clear picture start to emerge... Feels like magic.

Except you do this in a corporate setting and they will stop you the second it works. And then you are stuck maintaining a barely working version forever.

I learned this the bad way, but now I just lie and say it doesn't work until it's good enough for me

  • Everyone's threshold is different. I aspire to "move fast and break things", but more often than not, I obsess over the rough edges.

  • ^^^ THIS ... If what you're building is useful, showing someone a prototype too early can cause the whole company to rush you to deploy.