“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
General Patton
Obviously not true in all cases, but good advice for folks that have trouble getting things done despite being extremely intelligent (which this community has more than its fair share of).
No, I am sorry, this aphorism may only be defended in those instances where poor planning results in a situatiion where insufficient time is available for any planning, and events now dictate action. In which case, what right does the ‘good plan’ have to be called a plan?
Consider Eisenhower:
In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.
Other humans must be interacted with in real-time. Consider a non-military analogy: a good comeback confidently issued now is better than a perfect comeback issued next week.
It also works for computing. Consider languages which have a REPL to those that don’t: for many applications, good code executed now is better than perfect code executed next week. This is often because requirements change over time, and the future cannot be predicted- the customers won’t know what module they want next until they’ve used the current module.
A fellow director is fond of saying, as she puts together rehearsal plans for the show she’s about to direct, that while 95% of what she ends up doing in rehearsal is pulled out of her ass rather than planned, rehearsal plans are nevertheless an indispensable part of preparing her ass for rehearsals.
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
General Patton
Obviously not true in all cases, but good advice for folks that have trouble getting things done despite being extremely intelligent (which this community has more than its fair share of).
Consider Eisenhower:
Other humans must be interacted with in real-time. Consider a non-military analogy: a good comeback confidently issued now is better than a perfect comeback issued next week.
It also works for computing. Consider languages which have a REPL to those that don’t: for many applications, good code executed now is better than perfect code executed next week. This is often because requirements change over time, and the future cannot be predicted- the customers won’t know what module they want next until they’ve used the current module.
A fellow director is fond of saying, as she puts together rehearsal plans for the show she’s about to direct, that while 95% of what she ends up doing in rehearsal is pulled out of her ass rather than planned, rehearsal plans are nevertheless an indispensable part of preparing her ass for rehearsals.