We’ve all been faced with a problem that’s clearly outside our comfort level.

Maybe it’s a coding challenge that you just don’t know the answer to.

Maybe it’s an estimate for a big corporation and you just don’t know how to position it.

Maybe it’s a tough blog post that you don’t know how to write.

Shitty first drafts

Most people have heard that they should just write a shitty first draft of a blog post and then improve it.

Have you also heard that you should do the same thing for that coding challenge?

How about that estimate?

Then you need to read it again find a flaw in the work and fix it.

Solve the problem

Taking this approach gives you the freedom to fail. The first iteration isn’t supposed to be perfect it’s supposed to have flaws.

Understanding that it’s supposed to have flaws means that you are free to make mistakes.

You’re free to fail.

Then just sit back and read it again and find a problem and fix it.

You can almost always find one errant word or optimize one line of code or tweak that bad first pass at a design.

You can’t ever write it perfect the first time. So don’t expect perfection.

You’re only going to let yourself down.

photo credit: wwarby cc