i-TFTD #152

#152-1. We build (software) systems like the Wright brothers built airplanes -- build the whole thing, push it off the cliff, let it crash, and start all over again.
-R. M. Graham

#152-2. Act as if everything you think, say and do determines your entire life - because in reality, it does!
-Laurelle Adrian

#152-3. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
-Leonardo DaVinci

____
A counterquestion to the first one is: the Wright brothers succeeded, didn't they? That too in a big way where many failed for centuries earlier.

The second one seems obvious but do we really remember or even accept it? Whenever we behave in a particular way knowing that it is not exactly the best course of action nor the best attitude to adopt, if we remind ourselves that ultimately there are consequences to everything good or bad, maybe we will change.

Only someone as sophisticated as DaVinci could come up with the profound third statement. I believe one has to progress in stages: from

-simplistic (simple due to lack of awareness and limitation)
to
-complex (sophisticated if polished, complicated if not)
before cycling back to
-simple (by choice).

i-TFTD #43

1. All problems become smaller if you don't dodge them, but confront them. Touch a thistle timidly, and it pricks you; grasp it boldly, and its spines crumble.

-William F. Halsey

2. People will only change when the combination of the desire for change, the vision of the change, and the knowledge of the change process is greater than the value of leaving things as they are. This can alternatively be expressed as:

Dissatisfaction + Vision + Change Process = Cost of Change.
-Beckhard and Harris, Managing Complex Change

3. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you're looking down, you can't see something that's above you.

-C. S. Lewis

_____
The first has been a recurring theme here in i-TFTD. My favourite take on it is: most industries today call themselves providers of solutions. Solutions are needed only when problems exist. So all of us "solution providers" must be eagerly seeking out problems. Instead we avoid, deny, hide and spend energy finding who to blame. Funny. Most of the highly effective and successful people I have observed, have a curiousity to move towards newer problems to tackle.

The second quote is a bit abstract, from an academic source. It applies not only in an organizational context but also in personal life. We say we wish to change something but do not actually do things to change it. To avoid the prolonged dissatisfaction it is better to be aware that there are costs that we are not willing to pay for achieving the changed situation. Maybe it is a prudent decision. Maybe not.

The third reminds us to set a higher vision for ourselves rather than basking for too long in any past achievement.