Work on the wrong things first - BuildStuff.LT

1. work on the wrong things first
@amye - amye@redhat.com - someone who has done this

2. This I believe.

3. Why does this matter?

4. No, really, why does this matter for you?

5. It creates clarity.

6. Work On The Wrong Things First.

7. I believe in finding your way forward by
doing more, not less.

8. I believe in experimentation.

9. I believe there is no one right way.

10. I believe that the world has expanded
even further that we know about - and
that no one person can understand all
of it.

11. I believe in kindness.

12. I believe that kindness extends towards
bridging that divide between
'non-technical' and 'technical'.

13. I believe that Shakespeare was right.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

14. I believe in parsimony.

15. Why use 18 words when 3 will do?

16. I believe this in email, I believe this in
documentation, I believe this in
meetings, and I believe this for
technology.

17. I believe that kindness extends through
using short words.

18. I believe in creating space for us to
mess up in.

19. I believe that words have meaning,
and we show our values through our
words.

20. That our actions towards each other
indicate our humanity, our goals, and
our collective achievements.

21. I believe in the campfire rule -- that we
leave places cleaner than we found
them.

22. But I also believe that we have the best
change to change things when we
understand how they came to happen.

23. I believe in finding what moments led
from here to there.

24. I believe that the agency that an
individual person can have on the
course of history is tremendous.

25. Given the right timing and the right
colleagues and the right ideas, small
day to day things can add up to
monumental achievements.

26. I believe that the work that we can do
will matter a great deal in the future,
even if we do not see it now.

27. Work on the Wrong Things First.

28. I believe that you don't get a chance to
figure out what you really want and are
inspired to do by magic - this doesn't
come fully formed.

29. I believe that you find your way slowly,
like reading a map, and that this map is
different for all of us.

30. I believe that you learn more about
what you want from the things that you
hate.

31. The experiences that leave us cold and
give us nightmares - the ones that stick
with us - are our most valuable, useful
memories.

32. Those are our wrong things.

33. They instruct us, they keep us honest,
they tell us of where on the map --
here be dragons.

34. If we're good, we remember these
times where we completely failed.

35. We take the lessons we needed to
learn, but we also leave the things that
we have no control over.

36. Situations, environments, people that
we weren't good with.

37. I believe that things don't always have
to work.

38. I believe in walking away when you've
done everything you can.

39. I believe in walking away to save
yourself.

40. I believe that not everything is perfect.

41. I believe that we have a duty to work
on fixing the messes that we can see.

42. But I also believe that everything has a
downside.

43. I believe that nothing is perfect.

44. I believe that engagement matters
more.

45. That we work best when we become
entangled in something to be able to
see the important things but also the
flaws.

46. I believe that we do our best work
when we can see our impact
immediately and also over time.

47. I believe that we can all have this
capacity, and that we can encourage it
in others.

48. I believe that we can work on
something imperfect in order to be able
to see what doesn't work.

49. I believe that when we belittle each
other for our work in the space, we lose
sight of the power we have.

50. I believe that this is inadvertent. That it
comes out of ignorance.

51. I refuse to believe that this is malice.

52. I believe that our technology exists for
a more free and open world.

53. I believe that we need to build for
everyone, not just the people who can
afford it.

54. I believe that we need to think about
our technology infrastructure as a
public good and not as a private
pay-for-access.

55. I believe that we need to have access
for all people.

56. I believe we can do better.

57. This I Believe.

58. Give yourself that kind of permission.

59. Except maybe, I've got one last suggestion. Just one. And that is, gear yourself
for the long haul. Whatever path you choose -- business, nonprofits,
government, education, health care, the arts -- whatever it is, you're going to
have some setbacks. You will deal occasionally with foolish people. You will
be frustrated. You’ll have a boss that's not great. You won’t always get
everything you want -- at least not as fast as you want it. So you have to stick
with it. You have to be persistent. And success, however small, however
incomplete, success is still success. I always tell my daughters, you know,
better is good. It may not be perfect, it may not be great, but it's good.
That's how progress happens -- in societies and in our own lives.
Barack Obama - May 15, 2016

60. Work on the wrong things first.

61. What do you believe?
Thank you.