You can watch the clock, but if you do, it’s watching you.
Clocks have an agenda. They aren’t a part of the human condition–they’re fairly recent. They enabled industrialism, and the very fact that they have an ‘alarm’ built in is a clue.
It’s definitely possible to put time to good use.
But if we’re without a compass and a goal, we can find it using us.
For just about everything, there’s level 1 (too cheap, total loss, all money and effort less than 1 is wasted) and there’s level 2 (spending ever more money to get not much more than investing at level 2 would have created.)
This rule applies to copyediting, to used cars, to the building of bridges and everything in between.
What’s the point of underspending on a software project? You merely end up with nothing but frustration.
And the gold-plated RFP that comes from deep within the bureaucracy is designed to avoid finger-pointing and blame, not to actually buy something that gets us a return–that might lead to even more waste.
Better to pay a little more than you should and get something you can use than pay too little and end up with nothing at all. Better as well to avoid paying a ridiculous amount for something that never satisfies–better to live without until you learn to see the curve.
Learning to see the curve–that’s the benefit of deliberate experience, well earned.
August 1, 2021
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