diff --git a/src/content/blog/2023-02-13-the-exceptions-are-more-interesting.md b/src/content/blog/2023-02-13-the-exceptions-are-more-interesting.md index 408fd3a..d0cffaa 100644 --- a/src/content/blog/2023-02-13-the-exceptions-are-more-interesting.md +++ b/src/content/blog/2023-02-13-the-exceptions-are-more-interesting.md @@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ slug: 2023-02-13-the-exceptions-are-more-interesting author: Thomas Wilson --- + +Edit: Ironically, this post is a little too generic. My thinking got a bit clearer in [The Meta is More Appealing](/blog/2023-02-19-the-meta-is-more-appealing/). Thomas 2023-02-19. + +--- + I'm going to open with three buzzwords and a bland sentiment: Theories, policies, and frameworks are useful. diff --git a/src/content/blog/2023-02-19-the-meta-is-more-appealing.md b/src/content/blog/2023-02-19-the-meta-is-more-appealing.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e7f221 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/content/blog/2023-02-19-the-meta-is-more-appealing.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: The Meta is More Appealing +date: 2023-02-19T19:33:01.450Z +slug: 2023-02-19-the-meta-is-more-appealing +author: Thomas Wilson + +--- +Earlier this week I wrote a piece, [The exceptions are more interesting](/blog/2023-02-13-the-exceptions-are-more-interesting). Tl;dr - unless you're extremely careful at work, ideas/advice/theories become platitudes, and therefore less useful. + +My brain isn't finished with the idea, I think the point I want to make is: + +> It is tempting to prefer talking in generalisations. It feels more useful, because you can think-once-run-anywhere. It's easy to dismiss a criticism of an "in general" with the details of "just one" specific. But for any one given problem or situation, it's probably more useful to give specific advice - and *then* try to make it general. + +We've got a couple of new-ish projects going on at work. They are taking a lot of my time. Because they're new, there's a lot of ground-work to do as a software engineer. You've got to understand the way the current system works, how we want the future system to work, and where we can/not take shortcuts to get things done quicker. + +This means that a lot of the conversations at the moment have to be *really* specific. For example you might have to say "If you had to wait six weeks for two of these features, what's most acceptable" or "can we do a manual conversion of data here, instead of spending a week automating it?". + +I think some people see this level of specificity as a bad thing. + +There's an idea that generalisations or meta-level work is always more useful than talking about the specifics of an issue. Taking the examples above, they might respond "we need a rigorous, opportunity-cost approach to prioritising" or "we need a clean set of code tools for data input automation". + +Sometimes I'll try to bring conversations closer to the specifics and detail of a specific problem, and the response is to try to find generalities, or meta-conversations. + +Those things feel and sound useful, but they take every problem one step above where it is. Sometimes you really do just have to *do the thing*™️. + +There's a middle ground between the engineer who has to spend days-weeks in the weeds, and the product-person who spends time thinking about processes. But I think that meta conversations and grand theories-of-everythings can take the air out of the room for conversations of specific problems. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/routes/blog/[slug]/+page.svelte b/src/routes/blog/[slug]/+page.svelte index aae808c..149563c 100644 --- a/src/routes/blog/[slug]/+page.svelte +++ b/src/routes/blog/[slug]/+page.svelte @@ -54,25 +54,32 @@ padding-top: 24px; } - :global(#article) { + :global(blockquote) { + font-size: var(--font-size); + font-style: italic; + margin: 0; + padding: 0 0 0 1rem; + border-left: 2px solid var(--brand-orange); + } + + :global(p, a) { + line-height: 160%; + font-size: var(--font-size); + font-weight: 400; + margin-bottom: 1.5rem; + letter-spacing: 0.5px; + } + + :global(li) { + margin: 0; + line-height: 140%; + font-size: var(--font-size); + } + + #article { max-width: 95%; width: 65ch; - p, - a { - line-height: 160%; - font-size: var(--font-size); - font-weight: 400; - margin-bottom: 1.5rem; - letter-spacing: 0.5px; - } - - li { - margin: 0; - line-height: 140%; - font-size: var(--font-size); - } - @media screen and (max-width: 700px) { --font-size: 1.1rem; padding: 12px;