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I prefer the middle ground: do some planning and optimization so I don’t release a freaking PWA monster into the world, then have to stall later while I figure

I prefer the middle ground: do some planning and optimization so I don’t release a freaking PWA monster into the world, then have to stall later while I figure out how to maintain the darn thing.

toast0 6y ago
The point of the article is that stalling later, when you have a better idea or what people want (and maybe some revenue, maybe?) is better than stalling now, when you have no customers. Launching something that clearly nobody will use because it can't do anything is clearly a waste of time still, but if you have something that people will use despite its flaws, maybe it's time to launch.
- hinkley 6y ago
  It's an argument that makes total sense until you see how peers implement that idea. The fact is we have coworkers who want to appear high brow but not put in the work. So they will espouse a deep belief but then use it to do something else entirely. Or nothing at all. Stalling, YAGNI, are extremely powerful tools. Maybe not explosives level of power, but perhaps cutting torch. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble with a torch if you do things in the wrong order or skip steps. (Not a welder, but I recently watch Alex Steele, Youtube blacksmith, and his then-partner make the same mistake twice in three weeks - heating a 3 piece assembly with a torch to get pieces 1 and 2 apart/together, could not remove piece 3 afterward due to the heat - expensive teachable moment the first time, but they needed a refresher) The Fine Art of Stalling is figuring out which Irreversible Decisions you can safely put off until later, when there is more information, and which things you require now regardless of reversibility. You don't stall on Reversible Decisions you need soon. You make them cheap. Got a bike shed to paint? Budget for five coats of paint in as many colors, pick one at random, and then move the fuck on. Your real job is determining which concrete contractor is certified to lay the base for your nuclear reactor, when you need it laid, the lead time each candidate needs to start the work, and any buffer you want to build in. If that means you don't need to know for another year, then let's keep an eye on those contractors' finances, turnover, and lawsuits, and look at the next thorn in our side, like the shipping company we're using that keeps screwing up.

I prefer the middle ground: do some planning and optimization so I don’t release a freaking PWA monster into the world, then have to stall later while I figure out how to maintain the darn thing.

toast0 6y ago

The point of the article is that stalling later, when you have a better idea or what people want (and maybe some revenue, maybe?) is better than stalling now, when you have no customers. Launching something that clearly nobody will use because it can't do anything is clearly a waste of time still, but if you have something that people will use despite its flaws, maybe it's time to launch.

hinkley 6y ago
It's an argument that makes total sense until you see how peers implement that idea. The fact is we have coworkers who want to appear high brow but not put in the work. So they will espouse a deep belief but then use it to do something else entirely. Or nothing at all. Stalling, YAGNI, are extremely powerful tools. Maybe not explosives level of power, but perhaps cutting torch. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble with a torch if you do things in the wrong order or skip steps. (Not a welder, but I recently watch Alex Steele, Youtube blacksmith, and his then-partner make the same mistake twice in three weeks - heating a 3 piece assembly with a torch to get pieces 1 and 2 apart/together, could not remove piece 3 afterward due to the heat - expensive teachable moment the first time, but they needed a refresher) The Fine Art of Stalling is figuring out which Irreversible Decisions you can safely put off until later, when there is more information, and which things you require now regardless of reversibility. You don't stall on Reversible Decisions you need soon. You make them cheap. Got a bike shed to paint? Budget for five coats of paint in as many colors, pick one at random, and then move the fuck on. Your real job is determining which concrete contractor is certified to lay the base for your nuclear reactor, when you need it laid, the lead time each candidate needs to start the work, and any buffer you want to build in. If that means you don't need to know for another year, then let's keep an eye on those contractors' finances, turnover, and lawsuits, and look at the next thorn in our side, like the shipping company we're using that keeps screwing up.