more thoughts on workflow

i had a consultant friend who taught me an important lesson. 'start with the draft'. up until then, my normal course of action in completing an assignment was a flurry of planning, research, haphazard meetings to try and garner fodder for a deliverable. my consultant friend, on the first day of the first assignment we were put on together asked me "where's the report?". i learned, after that episode, the best way for me to work is to start with a skeleton of what i'm trying to deliver and fill in the gaps. i think one of the reasons this is effective is at the end of everyday you feel you have something to show for your effort. i value every minute spent thinking and talking to people about a problem/solution but it is very disconcerting when you have nothing to show for the activity. starting with a draft and adding to it through 'stepwise refinement' is one way to avoid this situation.

i was reminded of this lesson while reading about how Judge Richard Posner - US Supreme Court of Appeals works:

"I'm a very fast writer. I can write 20, 30 manuscript pages in an evening. I do revisions later, but I find it more efficient to get something down that indicates where the gaps in my thinking are, and what research has to be done, and so on."

So next time you're stuck on how to proceed, start with a draft.