Have you ever done this and had it turn out successfully? Because my intuition is screaming at me that this would be disastrous.

For one, it skips the step where you break down the tasks. For another, it seems likely to ignore a bunch of variables in the search for something similar enough.

Both the mentionned idea are natural, but it's ultra sad that we can only live by experiment like craftsmen for previous eras. Not that I mind craftmanship but at least school should write it in bold letters so you're not seeking a mathematical model.