I really like this comment a lot because it mirrors my experience with brute force type solutions to problems. It's pretty much what I always start with because

I really like this comment a lot because it mirrors my experience with brute force type solutions to problems. It's pretty much what I always start with because on my first pass I need to prove that the problem can be solved in the first place. Then that gives me a baseline where I feel comfortable making changes and trying to optimize. Like you said, very often because of business constraints the optimization only needs to go so far and so an "optimal solution" may not necessarily be the one that is fastest in benchmarks. It may be the one I can get out today that solves the business problem now.