26 September 2022
This is embarrassing. Look at this page. It’s raw, styleless. It’s a shame. It’s my new site. And I love it.
I’m rebooting.
Many people believe that software engineers grow very attached to the systems they’ve created. That’s not (totally) true. What we really want is to rebuild our systems from scratch.
This system is already cluttered with too many wrong assumptions!
When working with a system feels like painting a road line without moving the paint bucket, it’s time to start all over again.
Good software architecture can be reduced to that single objective: to enable a system to be rebuilt, component by component, with minimum effort.
Isn’t this what nature does?
A system that is designed to be rebuilt is more adaptable and resilient in the long term.
I double down on this. I believe the pattern goes well beyond software engineering:
I believe in starting over as a way of life.
Start a fresh todo list everyday.
Start with an empty inbox every week.
Reset your objectives in 2 week sprints.
Renovate your wardrobe every 6 months.
Change something in your home every year.
Change your job every three.
Move to a different place every seven.
You can stretch the idea of rebooting as far as you’d like. Some people will find limits (I don’t plan to start over a new family any time soon). Some others will claim that everything is rebootable.
Actually, the question “what is NOT rebootable for you?” is a pretty powerful one. Answer it; then everything else can be rebooted… no, better said: everything else must be rebooted.
Not just rebooted but rebooted by design: force yourself to reboot at a given frequency. I shower daily. I don’t question every morning whether I strictly need it or not. Rebooting is also a cleansing ritual, just make it a habit.
Starting over is stimulating. It’s a rebirth. But we must be wary of facing the new start with over-confidence. Restarting gives you a blank canvas and improved skills, and that combination lends easily to a finite mindset.
“This time I’m going to nail it”.
There’s no nailing it and this is not the one time. This is just one more loop in an infinite series of loops.
In every cycle, bring in something new. Focus all your attention on the new; tremble before the risk it carries, then rise on the reward it promises. The old will find the way, unassumingly. You don’t need to take care of the old, it takes care of itself, but the new… the new needs friends.
Starting over cultivates the mindset of the beginner:
enthusiastic
optimistic
and a bit frightened
(should we call it the first date mindset? Master Suzuki would
approve 👍).
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities”.
Said the master.
I’m all in for that
(and I have this embarrassing webpage to prove it).
Actually…
I must confess…
This is not the post I had in mind…
I wrote another one but freaked out before publishing, so I started over (🤯 meta-referential plot twist!)
If you’ve made it this far, I might as well consider you my family. What the hell, if you’ve made it this far, chances are you are literally from my family.
If you’re curious about what I wrote first, check below… and remember to keep a beginner’s mind!