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

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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 peoples money and 2. Dismissing an idea.

Dismissing an idea is so easy because it doesnt involve any work. You can scoff at it. You can ignore it. You can puff some smoke at it. Thats 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 its too hard or its 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,” youre 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,” youre happy because it wasnt a great fit anyway; its not a worthwhile return on your time and effort.