posts-go/posts/2023-10-02-unrelated.md

# Unrelated engineer

This is collect of thoughts after I travel around the Internet. Not engineering
related though.

## [Give it five minutes](https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3124-give-it-five-minutes)

> There are two things in this world that take no skill: 1. Spending other
> people’s money and 2. Dismissing an idea.
>
> Dismissing an idea is so easy because it doesn’t involve any work. You can
> scoff at it. You can ignore it. You can puff some smoke at it. That’s easy.
> The hard thing to do is protect it, think about it, let it marinate, explore
> it, riff on it, and try it. The right idea could start out life as the wrong
> idea.
>
> So next time you hear something, or someone, talk about an idea, pitch an
> idea, or suggest an idea, give it five minutes. Think about it a little bit
> before pushing back, before saying it’s too hard or it’s too much work. Those
> things may be true, but there may be another truth in there too: It may be
> worth it.

## [Never say “no,” but rarely say “yes.”](https://longform.asmartbear.com/say-yes/)

> So the principle is straightforward: Set the conditions of “yes” such that:
>
> - If they say “yes,” you’re happy because the terms or money are so good, it
>   more than compensates for the distraction, perhaps funding the thing you
>   really want to do.
> - If they say “no,” you’re happy because it wasn’t a great fit anyway; it’s
>   not a worthwhile return on your time and effort.