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I agree in principle but the execution starts to fail in real life is when things are more complicated and interconnected than a simple task. It's a scaling function. It's also like Ju Jitsu. You can't be agile with Ju-Jitsu until you've learned the disciplined execution of the basics. At that point, you can mix and match techqniques. Iteration like 5 year olds doesn't work there.

This is one of those tricky insights that works... but doesn't... but does again if you work it in the right areas. It's a topic I looked at when I recommend Designing like a Sailor.

https://www.polymathicbeing.com/p/design-like-a-sailor

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It's just one tool in the box, as i see it. You need to try the iterative approach whenever planning isn't right, but periodically zoom out to think about the overall approach. You have to iterate between iteration and planning! Yikes.

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When I was 5 I stenciled ‘Fail to plan, plan to fail’ on my wall

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I'm a huge fan of planning!

But, of course, that means I can't "not plan" very well. Sometimes "not planning" is really fun... and productive. I get too bogged down in looking for that stencil some of the time.

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oddly enough, 50 years later I learned that if you don't plan, things still work out - sometimes for the better! Ok not all things but lots of things.

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I guess that's what I'm trying to say: sometimes it works out better to just dive right in.

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Nov 13Liked by Andrew Smith

we were taught in computer science to not go try to solve the assigned problem before thinking a planning a solution. Seems like common sense, but many miss it and go to work right away. I worked in a field (genetics research) that was constantly shifting requirements, so planning is a bit of a vague concept in that context. Being a "cowboy programmer," I enjoyed both aspects of computer programming.

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Writing code for me is like the marshmallow project. I’m not very good at it, but I enjoy the challenge and the rare successes. There is something magical about a box of inanimate silicon doing exactly what you told it to do. I don’t have my 10K hours, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I had 5K.

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That's awesome. I think it's foreign languages for me - nowhere near that much time yet, but I feel those little "aha!" moments from time to time, when things click and the whole language gets easier to understand. Spoken language and computer language are certainly both types of languages!

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Nov 13Liked by Andrew Smith

Theoretical computer science is closely related to linguistics. It's the part of CS I enjoyed the most, i.e. building compilers and other system software that requires a language to implement solutions.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Chomsky_hierarchy

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I think it's fair to argue that CS kind of IS linguistics, although I kind of think of language as us executing little programs all the time.

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A lot of the aspects of the entertainment industry combine these approaches: the iterative approach is used for making content and the professional manner is used, after a fashion, for selling it.

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Yes, although I've seen the iterative approach used a lot more by smaller, more independent artists. Then, when something they use works, the pros just copy it.

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Yes- it starts at the bottom and flows upward, like some rivers.

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Nov 12Liked by Andrew Smith

This exact task was once a part of a work competition where each team nominated two people to represent them. My colleague and I were the representatives of our team and ended up with one of the shortest structures when the time ran out (the clock was a much more stressful 2-3 minutes I believe).

I'm thrilled to know that it's because we were over-educated and not incompetent. Our competitors were merely five-year-old children. Suckers!

Thanks, Andrew!

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I can usually make most people feel better by pointing out that other people are even dumber. It's more of a curse than a blessing, but that silver lining is nice, right?

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This issue in a lateral way made me think a lot (especially in the initial part with reference to children who "play" to create the structure) on the importance of exploration. The ability to often look for alternative structures to existing ones, solutions that derive from other disciplines and apparently distant ideas, also thanks to exercises and processes like the ones you described, I think is a very interesting topic to explore from several points of view. Thanks for sharing.

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Riccardo, I hope it gives you a fruitful area for thinking further! That's one of the very cool things about this place: just passing the torch and seeing what someone can do with an idea.

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Nov 13Liked by Andrew Smith

This is the programming approach I took for years! I called it stepwise refinement (I picked that up somewhere along the way. I definitely have put in my 10,000 hours, even before I had degrees in computer science.

I am now attempting to complete 10,000-hour mastery of photography, not that I am pushed to get that much knowledge. The optics/photography field is wide *and* deep, just the kind of subject I enjoy learning.

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That's awesome! I love that you are off to master the next thing.

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Nov 12Liked by Andrew Smith

Your talk of marshmallows makes me hungry! Good connection between play and productivity!

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I hear they go really well with dried spaghetti.

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Nov 14Liked by Andrew Smith

Only in the making of imaginative towers…

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"We become afraid to make mistakes in front of other people. Sometimes, we even become afraid to make mistakes in front of ourselves."

Simply a beautiful permutation of words. Well done, Andrew.

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Thanks, Sam! This thought just really hit me.

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