0 Is Always Better Than -1, Even On Monday
Thank you all for subscribing and bearing with me last week. Everything I wrote was complete trash. I haven’t had a week like that for over a year.
Working with startups has shown me the dangers of shipping trash to make a deadline. Customers remember trash for years after it has been fixed. No one remembers a few missed release dates. Just look at video games.
They are constantly pushed back. Once games are released, no one talks about the lateness if the game is amazing. When game studios release trash, no one says, “Well, at least they delivered it on time!”
0 is always better than -1. When the waiter comes out and says, “The first one didn’t turn out very well, so we’re remaking it,” it’s difficult. Serving a burnt plate of food is a lot harder.
I sent my writing back to the kitchen last week. It was not fit for human consumption. Even this post threatens to become a dumpster fire if I overextend the metaphor.
This week will be better, and you should expect a flurry of posts. Now I will stop writing before this goes from 0 to -1.
Vin
I appreciate your vulnerability and humility. We're all human and it's good to remind ourselves of that. Earlier in my career, I had to do this with leaders where I wouldn't ship things that weren't ready. Unfortunately, I didn't get a great response but it was a good lesson in standing up for yourself and your work. I've also been at the other end where I burned myself out trying to hit a deadline at the sacrifice of mental sanity and questioning my abilities. There's a balance somewhere in the middle.