Dunrie Greiling Ph.D., Ann Arbor, MI 48105
My cat, Floyd, is quite fluffy and so he overheats in warm weather. His cool-off spot is in my closet. He’s been there a lot this summer. I’ve probably got too much stuff on the floor right now because he barely fits. Today he left his paws sticking out under the door.
So, a guiding and very freeing philosophy at my former workplace was “make mistakes faster”.
It is part of the iterative and incremental philosophy of development. Instead of doing a huge waterfall process where the team works for months building the perfect design, architecture code, whatever, we should work iteratively and incrementally–deliver paper prototypes, functional prototypes, deliver something that can be responded to before the entire thing is built.
The idea is we’ll make lots of mistakes in our work–so let’s get them out of the way as soon as and as cheaply as possble with quick prototyping, lots of communication, and an attitude of exploration. Let’s invest in small working pieces and get feedback sooner. Essentially, to solve a problem, try the simplest thing that could possibly work before investing in the perfect solution.
So, I was intrigued to read in Stumbling on Happiness that “make mistakes faster” is scientifically shown to be better for our mental health. It seems that our minds are good at compensating for “sins of transgression” but much less good at compensating for “sins of omission”.
Indeed, in the long run, people of every age and in every walk of life seem to regret not having done things much more than they regret things they did….The irony is all too clear: Because we do not realize that our psychological immune systems can rationalize an excess of courage more easily than an excess of cowardice, we hedge our bets when we should blunder forward. (p. 179 Stumbling on Happiness)
So, what is good for our software development projects is good for our brains and well being. Good news! Let’s blunder along now….
So, my most excellent friend Chris has loaned me his copy of Stumbling on Happiness. It is giving me interesting things to think about including this:
According to the author, there is something called an “inescapability trigger” that brings our “psychological immune system” of denial, looking to the bright side, and generally improving our experience of negative things.
[Read more…] about uninescapable – the uncertainty cost of subcontracting
So, we got a phone call several weeks ago, asking whether we’d consider showing our home on the Ann Arbor Old West Side (OWS) Annual Homes Tour. We agreed.
After a brief rush mixing panic and euphoria, I now have about 12,000 little projects I want to do before the tour (Sunday, September 17). Repaint study, fix paint problem in bath, reupholster living room chair, revisit some of my garden work, repaint porch, refurbish front door exterior frame…..
One of my jobs is to find “hosts” who would be willing to act as kind of pseudo-docents on the day of the tour. There would be 2 shifts
These hosts would hang out in our house for a shift during the tour, answering questions, directing traffic, and watching over things. In addition to the adulation and respect of many 10s of happy tour-goers, and in addition to our gratitude, hosts get a free ticket to the tour and will not have to wait in line at any of the other homes (hosts can go in through the back door of the other homes).
If you’d consider doing this, let me know. We’d need ~10 people total (!).
My nephew seems to be enjoying the robot I knitted for him….
