"Every minute spent in planning will save you two in execution." - Henry Kaisner
Lately I've been doing a 2,000 piece jigsaw puzzle for some mental exercise.
I don't do them often. At the start it's a big heap of mish-mashed colors and shapes. A ton of tree and sky pieces. Like any puzzler, I start out searching for border pieces which come easily. Then, it's like sifting through the ocean. Sloshing handfuls of pieces aside, coming up empty, and later forgetting where I'd already sloshed, so re-sloshing.
Eventually I come to my senses. I realize that there are other "borders" - such as places where tree lines or mountain slopes meet the sky and can be lined up with minimal trial and error. I discern that there are limited shapes, and start assigning names to their outlines. "Man with raised arms." "Man with two clubbed feet." And so on. It creates yet another type of sorting that simplifies the process.
Work's gotten better in the last month as we've continued to manufacture products. We've figuring out how to schedule tasks. Spending less time combing through memory in order to meet deadlines. The plans aren't perfect, because shore sands shift. But the act of trying creates improvement in two ways. First, it minimizes the impact of unforeseen twists. Second, it brings confidence that we are operating as efficiently as we can, and learning from it.
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