1.5 KiB
Unrelated engineer
This is collect of thoughts after I travel around the Internet. Not engineering related though.
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.”
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.