When a system is just getting started, a few simple goals are proposed. If things go well, the system begins to grow. Then new goals and unexpected situations keep appearing, and the system gets patched with more and more rules, so that newcomers can help build it without understanding the whole.
Are these rules really unbreakable? What is this system’s ultimate purpose? What is its short-term goal?
Worth Knowing
Gregory Kogan, CFO of Tiger Global Management (formerly Controller?), came up with this idea—“Wabl”.
When you look back at some work—code, strategy, architecture, design, drafts, and so on—really think about this question: If something were removed or ignored, would any value be lost?
In my career, I’ve learned this lesson more than once.
It’s counterintuitive, and you’ll face pushback from people who are afraid to challenge the norm, but I encourage you to keep asking yourself “WABL?!” and ruthlessly remove things when the answer is “no.” You’ll move faster, do less work, and get better results.
This is based on his repeated experience—he genuinely detested complex emails and, at various points, published multiple blog posts attacking them.
Diversity
The word “principle” doesn’t seem like a very good one. There are always countless seniors and elders who use the word to browbeat you. But I think they have all confused “rules” with “principles.”
“Rules” exist to restrain people, so that the system won’t slip out of the rule designer’s control.
There is only one “principle”—wanting a system to move toward its goal.
For a work project, the goal should be to bring the product to market on time, realize its economic value, and give every participant a fair economic return for their labor. If anything goes against this goal, I will ruthlessly remove it. If the goal is not achieved, everyone involved has in fact only wasted their valuable time.
For a hobby project, the goal should simply be to improve your technical skill, satisfy a modest sense of accomplishment, or earn a little recognition. It should not be entangled with economic factors. Don’t expect a financial return from a hobby project; it might actually bring one, but that is just a pleasant surprise.
I’m very good at seeing things from other people’s point of view—maybe that’s a kind of profiling ability—but in the end I can’t fully work out what their goal is or what ultimate end they’re hoping for. A person is a social being, a family being, a professional being, and a self: too complicated. But looking only at the professional being, you may catch a hint from the rules they propose. If someone is extremely attentive to every company rule and forces you to comply, then either the whole system has become rigid or, more likely, they don’t treat you as an equal.
Abstract everything into one system, set a short-term goal as its principle, and delete everything that has nothing to do with the principle.