The debt analogy

Arrange your list of debts from smallest to largest (making sure you’re meeting the minimum repayments on each). Here’s the trick: attack your smallest debt (say your credit card) by bumping up the repayments, so you can knock it over like a domino as quickly as possible. When it’s paid in full, throw your card into a blender (or have a bill burning ceremony). Then take your momentum and move on to knocking over your next debt domino. Keep going till you’ve knocked down all your dominoes (apart from your really big ones like your mortgage – but more on that later). When you do, it’s really important to celebrate. Pop the champers and throw one hell of a ‘debt free party’.”
The barefoot investor (Scott Pape)
, as found here.

A friend of mine and I were discussing network inventory / reconciliation projects this morning and he slipped a great analogy into the conversation. He referred to the barefoot investor’s plan for attacking a debt problem as being similar to an OSS data integrity problem.

As referenced in the quote above, you tackle (and resolve) the smallest of your list of debts first, then move onto the next. The same approach can be used when tackling network and data integrity issues. Itemise the problems you have and then tackle the easiest first. To use my new favourite phrase, “smallest executable steps.” Then move onto the next one.

Great analogy Doug. I love it!

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