Slowcore HQ

thomas

Velocity in action and decision making is highly valued these days (Agile methodology, Zuckerberg’s motto “move fast and break things”, etc.).

Yet what struck me the most working with a former boss and mentor of mine was how he kept postponing dealing with potential issues in a non-procrastinating way. He would often say things Iike “let’s wait and see”, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there”, etc.

Now that I’m in his shoes / his role, I’ve come to appreciate the value of Falkland’s law: unless you *must* make a decision, don’t make one. Prioritize patience and information gathering over making unnecessary decisions.

Not only does it keep your options open for later, it also avoids you having to change your mind and confuse people with new directions.

But more notably, I’ve often noticed that problems I was anticipating just… vanished before they could even materialize. The environment, priorities, resources available, constraints, etc had changed enough in the meantime.

Hi /slowcore-hq! I thought the "move slow and preserve things" crew might appreciate this.

"I’ve come to appreciate the value of Falkland’s law: unless you *must* make a decision, don’t make one. Prioritize patience and information gathering over making unnecessary decisions."

Writer, senior editor, music nerd, GenX eldergoth, monastery-bootstrapper. https://paragraph.xyz/@danicaswanson https://tinyurl.com/Black-Stone-Wordsmith

I was just thinking of recasting this here! 

This is definitely how I operate and it’s served me well.