Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now
by munificent on Monday August 10, 2020 @12:52PM
(#24111316)
This is a great point. It's important to be mindful of the path dependence you are creating for your future self. At any point in time, I think you can roughly bucket problems into three categories:
1. This is a blocking issue now.
2. This is not a block issue now, but postponing will cause more pain than we would save by not doing it now.
3. This is not a blocking issue and doesn't create future pain.
The third bucket are natural to postpone. Finding the balance between the first two is one of the primary challenges of engineering.
Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now
by afarrell on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @06:52AM
(#24119049)
I think there is a 4th category: This is not an obviously blocking issue right now, but it creates enough mental load that it prevents my work from being rewarding.
1. This is a blocking issue now.
2. This is not a block issue now, but postponing will cause more pain than we would save by not doing it now.
3. This is not a blocking issue and doesn't create future pain.
The third bucket are natural to postpone. Finding the balance between the first two is one of the primary challenges of engineering.