Documentation - Not What You Think It Is

Writing documentation is about problem solving. Not the act of technically describing something. 

Who am I writing for?

What job do they need done?

What problems prevent them from getting that job done easily?

Why do I need to document how the job to be done, is “done”? Why is it so complicated that someone has to be told how to do it?

Or worst; why can’t they find the documentation?

Slightly worse; why don’t they understand the documentation?

And then how do I measure the success of my problem solving? Are the actions that I am taking effective? How do I solve this problem better?

What have I learned that I need to share? How do I share the knowledge that I have learned?

Who else do I need to motivate to help me solve the problems that I have found? How do I multiply my efforts to solve the problems that I have discovered?

Don't write for the sake of writing. Solve problems. Sometimes by writing documentation.

Who I Want To Work With

What I want?

continuous learning, continuous improvement, forming strong convictions, loosely held, that wonder what’s possible, defended with candor, that are peer reviewed, independently executed with lean (build, measure, learn), and it just keeps on getting better

What I don’t want?

tell me what to do, I doubt we can do that, I need training, I did it all and I didn’t iterate or peer review because I just didn’t, review, fix, review, fix, review, fix, ... give up, what should I do next

Advice For The High School Graduate

Know where you are going. Your purpose. Have an Ikigai.

Know where you are, who you are, and what you stand for. Don’t let anyone fool you, or worse, fool yourself.

Plot a straight line from where you are, to where you're going. Follow it.

If you don’t know where you are, or where you’re going. You will go in circles. 

Embrace growth, learning and change. Reset the path often. Keep moving.

Shiny New Tools

Buying shiny new tools from Home Depot because they are on sale, or worst, you’re just wowed with them and dreaming about how you are going to use them one day, is a waste. Embarrassing to admit but I have a few unopened boxes that fall into this category.

Know what you want to make, what it will do for you, and buy the tools to get the job done within the return on investment that you are going after. In other words… I want to make this thing to solve some problem that I have. If I do this right it will have some benefit for me, some measure of success will be achieved. I can easily do the math to know what the cost of my project is, including the tools that I need to buy to get the job done, versus the outcome it will achieve. At this point the math tells me if my project is a go, and if it is, buy the tools that I need, if it isn’t, I can save the money and the shelf space for what truly matters.

Jumping

Moving both feet forward, together, in parallel, jumping, to get where you want to go is slow and exhausting. Especially when the distance is far.

Take one step, then another, one step at a time.

Same goes for the work we do. One thing at a time. Forget the myth of the incredible multi-tasker. Do one thing. Close it. Do the next.

Stop trying to jump everywhere.