Strategy - Goals, Tools, Riffs

The title for this post is shamelessly taken from an article written about 10 years ago by Steve Litt at Troubleshooters.com .  The article in question is a part of his online magazine series and I find it completely brilliant in explaining an effective approach to achieving high productivity.  I guess I should show you the article first:

• The Lesson of the Artist

The lesson is not a new one, and there are many sayings that effectively echo the sentiments, such as "Jack of all trades and master of none" however the concept illustrated here is practical and shows those who hear it how to be successful when all others are not.

There is another article in this issue of Steve's that I love as well

• Code readability throughout the Ages

I especially love the section titled "There is None as Blind as He Who Will Not See" .  Hard won wisdom.

Finally there is an article he wrote about the recession of the early '90s when people were being laid off and jobs were being outsourced to South Asia.  The link points to only a sub-section of the complete magazine which has so much to offer.

• Mercenary Perl

There is a common thread through all these articles, however I'll leave it to you to work out what they are.  In any endevour, it is not necessarily the spectacular parts of it that will give you the most reward.

One subset of this that I've taken on board is that in many professions there is a library of routines that you need to know well.  For me that is particularly so - I fly aeroplanes for a day/night job (mostly night).  There are a number of sequences that you need to remember and be able to do without thinking:

• Go-Around
• Loss of Cabin Pressure
• Engine Fire

are just three, but you get the drift.

Have a good look at Steve's site.  I think it is great and has so much to offer - but only to those of us that think carefully about things.


later .......