Opps! sorry for the vulgar title. It’s just that I’ve been thinking lately in all the precious seconds we spend daily ordering, cataloging and proof checking things that in reality….no one cares for. Who cares if your images filenames don’t begin with caps? Who in this world will die with you’re duplicate <div> tag if it doesn’t mean any harm? I mean, when you are a perfectionist, you sometimes confuse being a good professional that stands out from the bunch with a tight ass academic-by the book-technocrat that worries about things that don’t really matter in life. I mean, life is comprised of tons of silly formalisms in every profession, that don’t necessarily translate in productivity, or quality of life for all that matters. I mean, what is the ultimate…last, final and conclusive goal of being productive? Why do we have to make workflows more efficient? Isn’t it so we can accomplish our duties faster in order to have more spare time to enjoy the world outside? Don’t you think in the end that we just spend too much time on unnecessary formalisms that really don’t make our life better? Our friend Jacobe Gube from Six Revisions gives us a pretty good reflection about all these matters on his post “Adopting a “Does It Really Matter?” Philosophy”. His thoughts are oriented to programming, but the core of his thought can be applied to every aspect of life. It’s not an advertisement for mediocrity. It’s just a way to value what’s really important.
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July 23rd
AMEN bruthuh!! And there’s tons of silly and annoying formalisms aside from the professional realm. Starting with thank you cards http://re-url.me/hallmarkvortex which i can’t stand recieving because then i feel the need to do something in response. Grr. And I know what you mean with minor redundant errors. If it doesn’t hurt anyone it’s not that bad, but there comes a point when too much is too much. For example i hate repeating myself or having someone repeat the same thing over and over – so if someone’s going to give you an update on their life and they cover a few points you already know – okay fine no big deal. But if they start all over at the beginning you feel like screaming “Fast forward!!!” Or with writing. A few mistakes in a story don’t ruin its meaning, but too many will leave you confused about what character you’re referring to. Btw, G I got a comic for you too…. http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/48/
July 23rd
G–funny you should have a blog post on this topic–very timely, as I was just talking this pm with my friend about adopting a different viewpoint and not stressing out so much. If I need a bunch of file names to be all lower case, that’s what my file renamer is for! I have worked with a lot of developers, and typically they don’t like to do documentation. But, as a project manager responsible for overall quality, good documentation is worth its weight in gold. So let’s find a happy medium, doesn’t have to be perfect, maybe I will settle for 95% and move on… otherwise, nothing ever gets finished!
Keep on blogging, I love your posts.
July 24th
95%? Sometimes we just can’t help it can’t we Iconoclast? Could it be a flaw in our genes or something?
July 24th
Jjay, like iconoclast said… it’s just a matter of finding a middle ground. A mistake is something that is really counterproductive, but skipping a formalism that doesn’t affect the general scheme can’t be considered a flaw. We just have to relax a bit. What do you think? By the way, I loved the comic. Every reader should check it out, it’s hilarious! http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/48/
Thank you!
July 24th
was just using the principle to apply to everything else in life so i can rant too…
July 24th
Excellent use of cyber philosophy Jjay! Will apply too!
July 24th
LOL guys…..My Dad always said “Don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t pet the sweaty stuff” I’m not a perfectionist, I try my best and move on. Martha Stewart I shall never be because I’m just me. There are sparkles and flaws in everything, I happen to like both.
July 25th
Sherwood if that lines true then human males would become very neglected…