Been done before, been done before

What percentage of the work you do each day is work where the process (the ‘right answer’) is known? Jobs where you replicate a process instead of inventing one…
The place where we can create the most value is when we do a job where exploration and a new solution is what’s needed. Not rote, but exploration. Which means we’re doing something that’s not been done before, something that might not work.
This isn’t something to avoid, it’s the work we need to seek out
.”
Seth Godin
in this blog.

From the perspective of OSS experts, this blog from Seth Godin has three distinct perspectives:

  • The OSS operators’ perspective – Where we want super-repeatability, consistency and quality. We can accommodate exploration, but only if we’re monitoring Darwinian change and using it to evolve to become ever fitter and faster. Operator roles are all about coercing large volumes of activities through the funnel as quickly and accurately as possible, supported by our OSS tools and processes.
  • The OSS installer’s perspective – Where we want the out of the box installation to also be highly efficient, repeatable and consistent. In most cases, we don’t want room for exploration during an install
  • The OSS builders’ perspective – Where we want to follow Godin’s explorative lead, where we want to configure / customise an OSS by seeking something that’s never been done before in the hope that the solution is better than has ever been done before (in readiness to hand over to operators and installers)

Some people enjoy rote, consistency and repeatability, knowing what they’re going to do each day before the day starts. OSS needs these personalities.

But for the OSS builder roles, rote isn’t something to avoid, it’s the work we need to seek out, perhaps more passionately and laterally than we may care to admit.

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