Monday, 18 May 2020

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly: GOOD ADVICE and the OODA loop.

This contrarian advice is sound.  If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly.
Doing something well is commendable but doing nothing at all in the face of opportunity or danger is failure.   The opportunities we neglect outnumber the ones we act on so there are more times to apply the "Worth Doing Badly" advice than "Do It Well Or Don't Do It At All" advice.

Why is this good advice, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly"?
Because the perfect is the enemy of the good and because when we recognize a problem or opportunity it's because it hasn't been acted on and hasn't been figured out.   Because we start in ignorance of how to get the outcome, we will make second best choices and mistakes.

The few creative artists I have known seem to share a common principle.  When something gets into their head, they go and do it or make it while most of us just chuckle to ourselves or mention the idea over a glass of beer.

That is what the OODA principle is for.
Observe-Orient-Decide-Act
Repeat.
Jump in, get your feet wet, sort out what you learned to improve and jump in again.
The first time it may be done badly.  Get over it!
If you are doing this briskly and have competition, the competition is always playing catch-up. 
"Forty second" John Boyd developed the OODA concept.
Video clip, in his own words.



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