Secrets
Things I learned the hard way. Knowledge I wish I had earlier. Counterpart to questions.
- Most problems are people problems. Technical issues are usually solvable. The hard part is getting people to agree, communicate, or change behavior.
- You can't optimize what you don't measure. But you also can't measure everything. Pick 2-3 metrics that actually matter and ignore the rest.
- Perfect is the enemy of good enough. Ship early, ship often. You'll learn more from one deployed feature than ten perfect prototypes.
- Complexity compounds silently. What feels simple today becomes unmaintainable in six months. Fight complexity from day one.
- Your first solution is usually wrong. Not because you're bad, but because you don't understand the problem yet. Build to learn, not to solve.
- Most advice is context-dependent. What worked for someone else might not work for you. Extract principles, not prescriptions.
- You become what you optimize for. If you optimize for speed, you'll cut corners. If you optimize for quality, you'll move slowly. Choose wisely.
- Reading code is harder than writing it. Write code for the person reading it six months from now. That person is probably you.
- Consistency beats intensity. Writing 100 words daily beats 10,000 words once a month. Small, daily actions compound.
- You can't think your way out of a problem you behaved your way into. Action changes thinking more than thinking changes action.
This list evolves as I learn. Some secrets get replaced, some stay forever.