Don't Overplan, Do Prototype
published on 2024/07/22
Mainly, you don’t know what you don’t know. The way to discover what you don’t know is to encounter it. When you dream on paper, things may shift from reality, and you may not see the whole picture.
The wrong bottlenecks may be identified, the wrong solutions proposed, and the wrong problems solved. You might even address a problem that doesn’t exist or is less important than other aspects of the system. Overengineering is a common mistake in this scenario, one I used to always make. It’s hard to foresee all the challenges in a system you haven’t designed.
Additionally, overplanning can oftentimes be a shield, a safe zone, or a procrastination technique to avoid being “vulnerable” to new experiences. It’s easy to get lost in the planning phase because it’s a lot more comfortable than the “actual” work.
The catch is that it won’t keep us safe. Instead, it brings overthinking to the table. Sooner or later, decision fatigue, analysis paralysis, and burnout will also follow.