WHO AM I?ZBIGNIEW SOBIECKI
PRESSING “COMPILE” SINCE 1997
award-winning designsoftware development
code reviews design audits
iOS
OS X
clients all over the world
startups
Fortune 500
Android
watchOS
tvOSproject rescue
cashflow hiring
designculture
finance
app sales
other stuff
office
sales
people
development
business development
marketing
HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND
LESS FAILURES
FAILURES
TRYING LIKE IT’S 1999
TAKE IT PERSONALLYwhatever we do, we actually just TRY to do it
quit smoking
started running
raced 10k, 21k pretty sure will fail to run marathon next month
father of a 10-year-old
lost a lot of weight
Successes and non-stupid failures to idiotic onesSu
cces
ses
Time
WHERE DOES THE SUCCESS COME FROM?
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
SUCCESS COMES FROM TRYING
HARDER
TRYING A LITTLE HARDER
EVERY DAY
SUCCESS COMES FROM TRYING
HARDER
CAPTAIN OBVIOUS SAYS
IS IT REALLY OBVIOUS?
WE DON’T TALK ABOUT TRYING ENOUGH
NOT EVEN GEEKY-SEXY
IT’S ALL THE SAME, REALLY
TRYING HARDER IS AN ATTITUDE
LET’S NOT GET TOOmelodramatic
NEXT UP
• What does it mean to try?
• What does it mean to try harder?
• Does it make sense to try harder?
• Why don’t we try hard enough?
• How to try harder?
“To make an effort to do or accomplish (something)”
TO TRY
TRYING IN PHYSICS
Applying force to an object to change its motion
TRYING IN REAL LIFE
Object Effort Time
THE PROBLEM WITH EFFORT
EFFORT
Might not be big enough
NOT ENOUGH EFFORT
BUT THEN SUDDENLY
ALWAYS WANTED TO BLOG
WAIT, LET’S CODE FIRST
THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH
EFFORT
BUT IT MIGHT WORK TOO
FOR SOME TIME AT LEAST
UNTIL SOMEONE ELSE TRIES
THEY TRIED HARDER
TRIES REALLY HARD
EVEN GIVES IT ALL
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
ESTIMATING EFFORT IS HARD
ESTIMATING EFFORT IS HARD
FAILURETRYING
SO WHAT HAPPENS IS
SUCCESSTRYING
OR (RARELY) THIS!
WITH NEW STUFF
IT USUALLY IS THIS
FAILURETRYING
HOW TO MAKE IT ALWAYS WORK?
IT’S NOT THAT EASY
XP
CHARISMA
EFFORT
KARMA
80
120
75
42
THERE’S NO WAY TO MEASURE IT
ONLY RELATIVE MEASURE WORKS
SECOND TIME IS BETTER
FAILURETRYING
SO WHAT HAPPENS IS
LEARNING
REFLECTINGTRYING HARDER
TRYING HARDERMEANS
GOING A BIT FARTHER
THAN THE LAST TIMEEVERY TIME
WHEN IN DOUBT
THE HARDER WAYCHOOSE
IF IT DOESN’T HURT
YOU’RE NOT TRYING
THEN
HARD ENOUGH
YOU WILL FEELDIFFERENT
YOU MIGHT GETFRUSTRATED
WITH PEOPLE
PEOPLE WILL GET
FRUSTRATED WITHYOU
“Perfect is the enemy of good”
PEOPLE WILL SAY
“Premature optimization is the root of all evil”
PEOPLE WILL SAY
PERFECTION IS RELATIVE
FAILURETRYING
LEARNING
REFLECTINGTRYING HARDER
BE MINDFUL
DOES IT MAKE SENSETO TRY HARDER?
FOR CONSUMERS• We have better products (duh!)
• We have less crap (less obvious)
• Things are simpler
• We are more efficient
• We have more time because of the above
• We are calmer and happier
FOR MAKERS• We are getting better at what we do
• We reflect and improve things around us
• We grow as human beings
• We show the way for others to follow
• We invest in the future (this is long-term strategy)
• We keep the human race alive
SHORT- VS LONG-TERM• “Good enough” is a short-term approach
• It’s easy
• Result is predictable
• Everyone does that
• Cheap wins, risk small
• Quality? What?
SHORT- VS LONG-TERM• “Trying harder” is long-term
• Result is not obvious
• More time is required
• Isn’t pretty
• You are only incrementally getting better
• Quality is the only way forward
SAVING HUMAN RACE
BY TRYING HARDER?ARE YOU KIDDING?
MAMMOTHS WERE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH
DO YOU REMEMBER THESE?
SNAKE GAME AND SUCH
PRETTY IMPORTANT STUFF
ROCKETS ARE AWESOME
SENDING PEOPLE TO MARS
WHY MARS IS IMPORTANT?
STUFF HAPPENED IN THE PAST
STUFF CAN HAPPEN
HOW ABOUT NOT DO STUFF?
LOTS OF BRIGHT PEOPLE
SHOW THE WAY
FOR OTHERS TOTRY HARDER
WHY DON’T WE
TRY HARDERBY DEFAULT?
WHY DON’T WE TRY HARDER?• We are lazy
• It’s out of our comfort zone
• We’re focused on short-term, instant gratification
• This is how our culture works
• Trying harder isn’t sexy
• Herd mentality
• We pursue the wrong kind of perfection
HAVE NO FEAR OF PERFECTION.
YOU WILL NEVER REACH IT.
Salvador Dalí
USE PERFECTION WISELY• Motivation
• Strive for it
• Don’t compare against it
• Direction
• Not a goal
• Check the progress by looking back
RIGHT KIND OF PERFECTION
HOW TO TRY HARDER?
TRYING HARDER 101• Think this through
• Realize that the choice is always there
• Do it for yourself
• Compare only to your past results and actions
• Set a reminder for a check and reflection
• Take pride in trying harder and enjoy doing it
THANK YOU
Zbigniew Sobiecki @zbigniew
[email protected]