5 ms·

This point is so good and so important: "Getting lost in your knowledge management system is a fantastic way to avoid creating things. Or calling that friend y

This point is so good and so important: "Getting lost in your knowledge management system is a fantastic way to avoid creating things. Or calling that friend you’re estranged from. Or doing anything else even mildly threatening. It’s also a fantastic way to convince yourself that unpreparedness is what’s between you and creative work. If you believe you’re unprepared, know that you will never transmute into the perfectly prepared person that you think exists in the future."

colordrops 4y ago
Too close to home
cube00 4y ago
This explains why project managers spend their days hiding in JIRA
- Tagbert 4y ago
  As a project manager, that is the last place I want to be.
- baq 4y ago
  Jira-ish tools help immensely if the project manager changes mid-project… at least some knowledge will be in work items if the previous pm actually did any work.
oliverbennett 4y ago
I always framed this more as ‘the tools will not save me’. A better pen won’t make me a better illustrator, no system/framework/methodology will take in garbage and spit out gold. But, in retrospect, I think I should partly blame seeking a foolish level of preparedness. I’ll try to recognise/abstain from this ‘preparbation’ in the future.
- User23 4y ago
  I’m absolutely not gifted when it comes to manual crafts, but I’ve found having the right tool for the job brings me from shamefully incapable to acceptably competent. For example I got into book binding a while back and while I started freehand I quickly built a jig and it vastly improved the quality of the work.
  - Kye 4y ago
    This is true, but still has limits. Moving from Reaper to Ableton Live made music easier to make. But then there's the tendency to wonder if I made the wrong choice between the handful of comparable DAWs like FL Studio or BitWig. The fact that I'm absurdly productive in the one I picked can only do so much to stop that thought process that starts any time one of the others goes on sale.
  - munificent 4y ago
    Yes, there is a deep meta-skill around distinguishing "Am I seeking a better tool because it will help me solve my problem?" or "Am I seeking a better tool to avoid the fear of making difficult design choices?"
- noobly 4y ago
  Preparbation is a great term :-) I always try to conciously remind myself to avoid diminishing returns when doing this kind of stuff (i.e 80/20 rule), but that sums up nicely with just the right amount of sting.
- munificent 4y ago
  It's such an easy trap to fall into because it doesn't feel like avoidance out of fear, but it almost certainly is. One of my mantras lately has been, "If it doesn't make me at least a little uncomfortable, I'm probably avoiding something."
  - oliverbennett 4y ago
    Successful people (judged by their own metrics of success) are generally willing to make short term sacrifices for long term gains. My reluctance / fear / discomfort often isn’t even recognisable to myself for a while. If and when I do act on it, it quickly subsides and I can do stuff I that’s in some sense still uncomfortable, but that I seem to genuinely enjoy even in the moment - making things, experiencing novelty, being challenged etc. And yet my brain hasn’t put that together. I sometimes set a repeating personal alarm* that just asks ‘are you doing what you’re meant to be doing?’. I’ll try framing some of how I answer that around discomfort / sacrifice from now on. *I usually use it when talking with people who meander/derail conversations as much as I do, and we recognise it’s a problem.
nextos 4y ago
But if you do it well, it's the opposite. Luhmann, who came up with Zettelkasten, is known to be one of the most prolific scholars in the last century. Zettelkasten was essential for this. The thing is that his original system was incredibly simple. I think that's what people are missing. Plain Org or Markdown files on a Git repository are a great way to mimic Zettelkasten. You don't need more and restrictions are actually very liberating.
- dumpsterlid 4y ago
  Org mode is so incredibly powerful but also so painfully beautiful in it's simplicity if you dont go overboard with it
- yackback 4y ago
  The key is come up with something, then stick to it. Too many people spend months or years chasing perfection that doesn't exist.
  - matwood 4y ago
    Bingo. I’ve bounced around note systems and realized I was just wasting time bouncing around. Now I use Apple’s Notes.app. It syncs and can be used on any of my devices which was my only hard requirement.
    - tylerwince 4y ago
      And very little customization to constantly tinker with. I also love Apple Notes and have found myself much more productive since I stopped switching apps and settled on using Notes.
      - podviaznikov 4y ago
        same! blog post from my friend on this topic https://blog.montaigne.io/write-in-apple-notes https://blog.montaigne.io/write-in-apple-notes
    - 4y ago
enviclash 4y ago
This is just need of balance and moderation.
closedloop129 4y ago
I think this is only a way to avoid creating things because we don't focus on collaborative note taking systems. Once people start sharing notes, they will start making friends by discovering the people who care about the same topics and create things together. Tweets and blogging are a bit like that but they are curated for a public image. Add some diffusion models that take over the creative part, and knowledge management systems become a tool to act. Of course, the risk of getting lost in knowledge not only remains but increases.

colordrops 4y ago

Too close to home

cube00 4y ago

This explains why project managers spend their days hiding in JIRA

Tagbert 4y ago
As a project manager, that is the last place I want to be.
baq 4y ago
Jira-ish tools help immensely if the project manager changes mid-project… at least some knowledge will be in work items if the previous pm actually did any work.

oliverbennett 4y ago

I always framed this more as ‘the tools will not save me’. A better pen won’t make me a better illustrator, no system/framework/methodology will take in garbage and spit out gold. But, in retrospect, I think I should partly blame seeking a foolish level of preparedness. I’ll try to recognise/abstain from this ‘preparbation’ in the future.

User23 4y ago
I’m absolutely not gifted when it comes to manual crafts, but I’ve found having the right tool for the job brings me from shamefully incapable to acceptably competent. For example I got into book binding a while back and while I started freehand I quickly built a jig and it vastly improved the quality of the work.
- Kye 4y ago
  This is true, but still has limits. Moving from Reaper to Ableton Live made music easier to make. But then there's the tendency to wonder if I made the wrong choice between the handful of comparable DAWs like FL Studio or BitWig. The fact that I'm absurdly productive in the one I picked can only do so much to stop that thought process that starts any time one of the others goes on sale.
- munificent 4y ago
  Yes, there is a deep meta-skill around distinguishing "Am I seeking a better tool because it will help me solve my problem?" or "Am I seeking a better tool to avoid the fear of making difficult design choices?"
noobly 4y ago
Preparbation is a great term :-) I always try to conciously remind myself to avoid diminishing returns when doing this kind of stuff (i.e 80/20 rule), but that sums up nicely with just the right amount of sting.
munificent 4y ago
It's such an easy trap to fall into because it doesn't feel like avoidance out of fear, but it almost certainly is. One of my mantras lately has been, "If it doesn't make me at least a little uncomfortable, I'm probably avoiding something."
- oliverbennett 4y ago
  Successful people (judged by their own metrics of success) are generally willing to make short term sacrifices for long term gains. My reluctance / fear / discomfort often isn’t even recognisable to myself for a while. If and when I do act on it, it quickly subsides and I can do stuff I that’s in some sense still uncomfortable, but that I seem to genuinely enjoy even in the moment - making things, experiencing novelty, being challenged etc. And yet my brain hasn’t put that together. I sometimes set a repeating personal alarm* that just asks ‘are you doing what you’re meant to be doing?’. I’ll try framing some of how I answer that around discomfort / sacrifice from now on. *I usually use it when talking with people who meander/derail conversations as much as I do, and we recognise it’s a problem.

nextos 4y ago

But if you do it well, it's the opposite. Luhmann, who came up with Zettelkasten, is known to be one of the most prolific scholars in the last century. Zettelkasten was essential for this. The thing is that his original system was incredibly simple. I think that's what people are missing. Plain Org or Markdown files on a Git repository are a great way to mimic Zettelkasten. You don't need more and restrictions are actually very liberating.

dumpsterlid 4y ago
Org mode is so incredibly powerful but also so painfully beautiful in it's simplicity if you dont go overboard with it
yackback 4y ago
The key is come up with something, then stick to it. Too many people spend months or years chasing perfection that doesn't exist.
- matwood 4y ago
  Bingo. I’ve bounced around note systems and realized I was just wasting time bouncing around. Now I use Apple’s Notes.app. It syncs and can be used on any of my devices which was my only hard requirement.
  - tylerwince 4y ago
    And very little customization to constantly tinker with. I also love Apple Notes and have found myself much more productive since I stopped switching apps and settled on using Notes.
    - podviaznikov 4y ago
      same! blog post from my friend on this topic https://blog.montaigne.io/write-in-apple-notes https://blog.montaigne.io/write-in-apple-notes
  - 4y ago

enviclash 4y ago

This is just need of balance and moderation.

closedloop129 4y ago

I think this is only a way to avoid creating things because we don't focus on collaborative note taking systems. Once people start sharing notes, they will start making friends by discovering the people who care about the same topics and create things together. Tweets and blogging are a bit like that but they are curated for a public image. Add some diffusion models that take over the creative part, and knowledge management systems become a tool to act. Of course, the risk of getting lost in knowledge not only remains but increases.