Tuesday, October 12, 2010

For some people, being impulsive is easy, and it’s a trait I find fascinating, a way of operating –and I know this runs counter to the very definition of the word–that seems advantageous for certain situations. Clearly I’m not impulsive. It’s simply not in my genetic makeup. Indeed, you would have better luck getting a Luftwaffe commander to freestyle than to suggest as such. I’ve been experimenting with a new framework recently, though, whose end result is the appearance of spontaneity, and I believe I’m better for it.

I like frameworks. They’re reusable thoughts, employed to navigate the day-to-day. But since it’s way too early in the week for the abstract, consider something a little more concrete: the idea that time and money are part of the same pie. It’s a zero-sum game, where having more of one usually means relinquishing the other. I got this from the Professor, and I’ve found it to be repeatedly useful. It’s simply another way to make decisions, when choosing seconds over cents is the most important criteria for a given moment.

The new framework I’ve been testing isn’t rocket science. It’s the notion that whatever you’re producing–an e-mail, presentation, speech, project–doesn’t have to be 100% before you push it out. If you’re 80%, 85% of the way there, that’s probably more than enough to carry you through most situations. The benefits of this train of thought are straightforward. There’s less agonizing, more action. More motion, which I like. And maybe your 80% could pass for, like, 90% to most bystanders, in which case–hey!–you’re set. Initial results have been promising, but I’m going to leave it at that. There was a full explanation, but I hit the “publish” button when this post was only 85% baked.