Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Saturday, January 06, 2018
New: #System #Design #Heuristics
You'd think that after publishing books for half a century, I'd know how to write a book. If that's what you think, you'd be wrong.
Sure, I've even written a book on writing books (Weinberg on Writing, the Fieldstone Method ), and I've applied those methods to dozens of successful books. But way back around 1960, I started collecting notes on the process of design, thinking I would shortly gather them into a book. Back then, I didn't call these bits and pieces "fieldstones," but that's what they turned out to be: the pieces that, when assembled properly, would ultimately become my design book.
Ultimately? Assembled properly? Aye, there's the rub!
Building walls from randomly found fieldstones requires patience. So does writing books by the Fieldstone Method. My Introduction to General Systems Thinking took fourteen years to write. But a writer only lives one lifetime, so there's a limit to patience. I'm growing old, and I'm beginning to think that fifty years is as close to "ultimately" as I'm going to get.
So, I've begun to tackle the task of properly assembling my collection of design fieldstones. Unfortunately, it's a much larger collection that I'd ever tackled before. My Mac tells me I have more than 36,000,000 digitized bytes of notes. My filing cabinets told me I had more than twenty-five pounds of paper notes, but I've managed to digitize some of them and discard others, so there's only a bit more than ten pounds left to consider.
For the past couple of years, I've periodically perused these fieldstones and tried to assemble them "properly." I just can't seem to do it. I'm stuck.
Some writers would say I am suffering from "writer's block," but I believe "writer's block" is a myth. I've published three other books in these frustrating years, so I can't be "blocked" as a writer, but just over this specific design book. You can hear me talk more about the Writer's Block myth on YouTube
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77xrdj9YH3M&t=7s]
but the short version is that "blocking" is simply a lack of ideas about how to write. I finally decided to take my own advice and conjure up some new ideas about how to write this design book.
Why I Was Stuck
To properly assemble a fieldstone pile, I always need an "organizing principle." For instance, my recent book, Do You Want to Be a (Better) Manager? is organized around the principle of better management. Or, for my book, Errors, the principle is actually the title. So, I had been thinking the organizing principle for a book on design ought to be Design.
Well, that seemed simple enough, but there was a problem. Everybody seemed to know what design is, but nobody seemed able to give a clear, consistent definition that covered all my notes. I finally came to the conclusion that's because "design" is not one thing, but many, many different things.
In the past, I ran a forum (SHAPE: Software as a Human Activity Practiced Effectively) whose members were among the most skilled software professionals in the world. We held a number of threads on the subject, "What is Design?" The result was several hundred pages of brilliant thoughts about design, all of which were correct in some context. But many of them were contradictory.
Some said design was a bottom-up process, but others asserted it was top-down. Still others talked about some kind of sideways process, and there were several of these. Some argued for an intuitive process, but others laid out an algorithmic, step-by-step process. There were many other variations: designs as imagined (intentional designs), designs as implemented, and designs as evolved in the world. All in all, there were simply too many organizing principles—certainly too many to compress into a title, let alone organize an entire book.
After two years of fumbling, I finally came up with an idea that couldn't have been implemented fifty years ago: the book will be composed of a variety of those consulting ideas that have been most helpful to my clients' designers. I will make no attempt (or very little) to organize them, but release them incrementally in an ever-growing ebook titled Design Heuristics.
How to Buy System Design Heuristics
My plan for offering the book is actually an old one, using a new technology. More than a century ago Charles Dickens released many of his immortal novels one chapter at a time in the weekly newspaper. Today, using the internet, I will release System Design Heuristics a single element at a time to subscribing readers.
To subscribe to the book, including all future additions, a reader will make a one-time payment. The price will be quite low when the collection is small, but will grow as the collection grows. That way, early subscribers will receive a bargain in compensation for the risk of an unknown future. Hopefully, however, even the small first collection will be worth the price. (If not, there will be a full money-back guarantee.)
Good designs tend to have unexpected benefits. When I first thought of this design, I didn't realize that it would allow readers to contribute ideas that I might incorporate in each new release. Now I aware of that potential benefit, and look forward to it.
Before I upload the first increment of System Design Heuristics, I'll wait a short while for feedback on this idea from my readers. If you'd like to tell me something about the plan, email me or write a comment on this blog.
Thanks for listening. Tell me what you think.
Sure, I've even written a book on writing books (Weinberg on Writing, the Fieldstone Method ), and I've applied those methods to dozens of successful books. But way back around 1960, I started collecting notes on the process of design, thinking I would shortly gather them into a book. Back then, I didn't call these bits and pieces "fieldstones," but that's what they turned out to be: the pieces that, when assembled properly, would ultimately become my design book.
Ultimately? Assembled properly? Aye, there's the rub!
Building walls from randomly found fieldstones requires patience. So does writing books by the Fieldstone Method. My Introduction to General Systems Thinking took fourteen years to write. But a writer only lives one lifetime, so there's a limit to patience. I'm growing old, and I'm beginning to think that fifty years is as close to "ultimately" as I'm going to get.
So, I've begun to tackle the task of properly assembling my collection of design fieldstones. Unfortunately, it's a much larger collection that I'd ever tackled before. My Mac tells me I have more than 36,000,000 digitized bytes of notes. My filing cabinets told me I had more than twenty-five pounds of paper notes, but I've managed to digitize some of them and discard others, so there's only a bit more than ten pounds left to consider.
For the past couple of years, I've periodically perused these fieldstones and tried to assemble them "properly." I just can't seem to do it. I'm stuck.
Some writers would say I am suffering from "writer's block," but I believe "writer's block" is a myth. I've published three other books in these frustrating years, so I can't be "blocked" as a writer, but just over this specific design book. You can hear me talk more about the Writer's Block myth on YouTube
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77xrdj9YH3M&t=7s]
but the short version is that "blocking" is simply a lack of ideas about how to write. I finally decided to take my own advice and conjure up some new ideas about how to write this design book.
Why I Was Stuck
To properly assemble a fieldstone pile, I always need an "organizing principle." For instance, my recent book, Do You Want to Be a (Better) Manager? is organized around the principle of better management. Or, for my book, Errors, the principle is actually the title. So, I had been thinking the organizing principle for a book on design ought to be Design.
Well, that seemed simple enough, but there was a problem. Everybody seemed to know what design is, but nobody seemed able to give a clear, consistent definition that covered all my notes. I finally came to the conclusion that's because "design" is not one thing, but many, many different things.
In the past, I ran a forum (SHAPE: Software as a Human Activity Practiced Effectively) whose members were among the most skilled software professionals in the world. We held a number of threads on the subject, "What is Design?" The result was several hundred pages of brilliant thoughts about design, all of which were correct in some context. But many of them were contradictory.
Some said design was a bottom-up process, but others asserted it was top-down. Still others talked about some kind of sideways process, and there were several of these. Some argued for an intuitive process, but others laid out an algorithmic, step-by-step process. There were many other variations: designs as imagined (intentional designs), designs as implemented, and designs as evolved in the world. All in all, there were simply too many organizing principles—certainly too many to compress into a title, let alone organize an entire book.
After two years of fumbling, I finally came up with an idea that couldn't have been implemented fifty years ago: the book will be composed of a variety of those consulting ideas that have been most helpful to my clients' designers. I will make no attempt (or very little) to organize them, but release them incrementally in an ever-growing ebook titled Design Heuristics.
How to Buy System Design Heuristics
My plan for offering the book is actually an old one, using a new technology. More than a century ago Charles Dickens released many of his immortal novels one chapter at a time in the weekly newspaper. Today, using the internet, I will release System Design Heuristics a single element at a time to subscribing readers.
To subscribe to the book, including all future additions, a reader will make a one-time payment. The price will be quite low when the collection is small, but will grow as the collection grows. That way, early subscribers will receive a bargain in compensation for the risk of an unknown future. Hopefully, however, even the small first collection will be worth the price. (If not, there will be a full money-back guarantee.)
Good designs tend to have unexpected benefits. When I first thought of this design, I didn't realize that it would allow readers to contribute ideas that I might incorporate in each new release. Now I aware of that potential benefit, and look forward to it.
Before I upload the first increment of System Design Heuristics, I'll wait a short while for feedback on this idea from my readers. If you'd like to tell me something about the plan, email me or write a comment on this blog.
Thanks for listening. Tell me what you think.
Labels:
books,
design,
errors,
feedback,
iterative development,
organization,
publishing,
systems,
writing
Monday, October 23, 2017
Where do old programmers go?
As far as I can tell, I’m the oldest old programmer to answer this question so far. I’m so old that the title “programmer” didn’t even exist when I started.
I celebrate my 84th birthday this week, and as far as I know, most of the programmers who were around under various titles when I started (in 1956, maybe 20 of us in the USA) are now dead. I hope they’ve gone to heaven (the cloud?).
Myself, I gradually ceased writing code for money and transitioned to training younger people to be outstanding professional programmers. I still write lots of code for my own use and amusement and learning, but it’s been at least 40 years since I could tolerate writing code for a boss who didn’t understand what programming was all about.
I’ve earned multiple livings as consultant, teacher, and writer. Always about programming, but more about design rather than coding details as the years went by. If you’re good, you can do any of these things even at advanced age, but you can’t just sit around waiting for someone to find you.
If you’re not good, than either get good (it’s never too late) or retire. We don’t need mediocre programmers, and we never did.
Labels:
coding,
computers,
consulting,
development,
experience,
getting hired,
history of computers,
jobs,
programmers,
programming,
training,
writing
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Which is Better, Writing on Screen or Paper?
I'm frequently asked, "Do writers and programmers feel more creative and expressive with pen and paper, or do thoughts come out as easily as when typing on a keyboard?"
It's a debate that I've listened to for more than half a century. Every tool for writing has some proponents. In other words, there’s no one way that’s better for every writer all the time. That's why the debate will never be settled. Even so, we can learn from it.
Personally, I have published a great variety of work—non-fiction, fiction, poetry, data queries, children’s stories, computer code, advertisements, polemics, applications. I've done so while writing
• by hand with pen or pencil or sharpie or marker pen
• on a manual typewriter or electric typewriter or computer keyboard
• with a stylus on a diver’s slate in a pool or shower
• with my toe in pink Bermuda sand
• with my voice into a recorder or computer voice-to-digital app
• with my bare finger on a touch screen
• with an electric router on a wooden beam
I may have used other approaches, but I can’t remember what else. I'm pretty sure, though, contrary to rumor, that I have not yet written with a hammer and chisel on a stone tablet. Something to look forward to.
Moral #1: if you’re a real programmer or writer of any kind, you would never let the lack of your favorite medium stand in the way of your writing.
Moral #2: If you want to be a real programmer or writer, for heaven’s sake, experiment with any medium you can imagine. You’ll find, as I did, that certain media are better for capturing your voice for each different coding problem, each different story, and each different type of writing.
So if your favorite tool isn't available, don't whine and don't shut down. Experiment instead!
Even if your favorite tool is available, experiment!
Besides, your primary tool is you, not the pen or keyboard or chisel, so keep experimenting with all those secondary tools that help you discover yourself.
And read Weinberg on Writing: the Fieldstone Method, which has taught thousands of writers how to experiment with their writing under every imaginable circumstance.
Labels:
coding,
communication,
computers,
programming,
tools,
writing
Sunday, September 03, 2017
Why is reading or writing something different from doing something?
First consider reading. Reading is (usually) a solitary activity, with no feedback. Without feedback, there's no check on what you believe you're learning.
Now, writing. Unless you put your writing in the hands of someone (or perhaps some computer analysis app), there's also no feedback, so there's no check on whether you wrote sense or nonsense.
When you do something, you interact with the real world, and the world responds in some way. With the world's feedback, you have the possibility of learning, confirming, or disconfirming something. That's why we strongly favor experiential learning over, say, lecturing or passive reading or writing.
If you want to teach somebody something, don't just send them to a book, or, even worse, tell them what you want them to know. Instead, figure out a way to have them experience the situation in which the learning applies.
After they've had the experience, you then might want to send them to a book where they can read about what they experienced.Alternatively, you might ask them to write about their learning and have you read what they wrote.
You can try this out:
Step 1. Write a sentence or two about what would happen if you tried to move your desk six inches (15 cm) to the left or right.
Step 2. When you finish writing, get up and move your desk six inches (15 cm) to the left or right.
Step 3. What did you learn in steps one and two?
For a far more thorough answer to this question, see my four-volume series on Experiential Learning
Then do some of the experiential exercises you find there.
Labels:
communication,
experience,
feedback,
learning,
reinforcement,
thinking,
training,
writing
Wednesday, August 02, 2017
Writing without the letter "A"
We were tested to see if we could write blog entries without the letter "A"
Of course we could write them. We could write lots of them. Indeed, I use this exercise in my writing courses, not just with the letter mentioned, but with every letter in English. Try it. Your writing will improve.
By the bye, some people wrote whole books without the letter E.
Try this test. Choose some letter, some difficult letter. Post some whole blog comment without using your letter.
If you would like to improve your writing, try
Oh, look. I unconsciously wrote the book title without the forbidden letter. It must be some terrific book. Multi-published reviewers think so:
"Don't write your book–build it with Weinberg's Fieldstone Method." - D. Poynter, writer of The Self-Publishing Manual
"It's changed how I intend to write my next book." - P. D., children's writer
"Buy this book. Work through the exercises…" J.R., techie writer
Labels:
challenges,
exercises,
problem solving,
writing
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Get the Better You Bundles for Good Now!
It’s here! The Better You Bundles for Good is on sale now for four days only. Get over 6000ドル worth of personal development courses and books for only 97ドル. There are over 140 products in this amazing bundle! If you are interested in improving your life, there has never been a better selection of resources at such an amazing price. Just a couple of the products will more than pay for the 97ドル price.
The best part is that 25% of the proceeds from the sale are going to support Courageous Kitchen , a charity helping refugees in Bangkok. Your purchase will not only make a difference in your life, it will also help some of the most vulnerable on the planet.
Take a look at the broad range of personal development resources included in the Better You Bundles for Good. There are books and courses on goal setting, motivation, health, meditation, stress, productivity, business systems, habits, procrastination, mindfulness and much, much more.
(Visit the website for the final list and more information.)
Courses and Resources
Courses and Resources
Effortless Manifestation Live Life by Design Not Default - Chris Spink - Value 1000ドル fulfillmentmastery.com
YOU 2.0: How To Instantly Upgrade Your Life - 10 Strategies That Work! - Derek Franklin - Value 95ドル derekfranklin.com
There Is More Inside Self-Image & Attitude Development Program - S.Renee Smith Value 197ドル srenee.com
How learning The 12 Universal Laws Will Change Your Life - Camillo Loken - Value 200ドル one-mind-one-energy.com
How I Earn 5000ドル+ a Month Passive Income Selling E-books and Video Courses - Rob Cubbon - Value 199ドル robcubbon.com
Mindfulness for Success in 6 weeks - Change Your Destiny - Megan Jackson - Value 175ドル sinceretarot.com
Public Speaking: You Can Be a Great Speaker Within 24 Hours - TJ Walker - Value 297ドル mediatrainingworldwide.com
Get Shit Done: A No-Excuses Guide To Productivity - Dan Johnston - Value 113ドル DreamsAroundTheWorld.com
Confidence Cure- The Key to Confidence No Matter Your Weight - Lauren Bromberg - Value 100ドル SunshineYOUniversity.com
Get Thi̶n̶g̶s LIFE Done: Introducing The Action Map System - Derek Franklin - Value 95ドル derekfranklin.com
How To Create An Awesome Morning Routine: 10 Ways To Start An Amazing Day - Derek Franklin - Value 95ドル Derekfranklin.com
The Success Code - A Blueprint for Reaching your Goals - Lisa Metzgar, PhD - Value 55ドル BioFunctionalHealth.com
How To Be More Confident - 13 Ideas For Becoming Unstoppable! - Derek Franklin - Value 95ドル derekfranklin.com
Confidence Cure- The Key to Confidence No Matter Your Weight - Lauren Bromberg - Value 95ドル SunshineYOUniversity.com
Conflict Management: Find Resolution, Balance & New Insight - Alina Margineau - Value 90ドル alinamargineanu.com
Management - Leadership, Negotiating, Assertiveness, Sales - Chris Croft - Value 85ドル chriscrofttraining.co.uk
65 LifeMaps (1-page tools for teaching powerful ideas related to success) - Derek Franklin - Value 65ドル derekfranklin.com
Slim, Sexy, and Smart - 28 Day Weight Loss and Fit Program - Lisa Metzgar, PhD - Value 55ドル BioFunctionalHealth.com
21 Days to Learn to Embrace Being a Highly Sensitive Person - Lauren Stewart - Value 55ドル findyourmagichsp.com
Starting, Managing, and Scaling a Successful Online Business - Rob Cubbon - Value 39ドル robcubbon.com
Morning Routine: My 5 Step System For Morning Ritual Mastery - Adrian Landsberg - Value 25ドル thelifestylecompound.com
Goal Setting: My Exact Goal Setting Blueprint For Success - Adrian Landsberg - Value 25ドル thelifestylecompound.com
Books
Personal Development Simplified- Break Negative Patterns and Take Control of Your Life. Guaranteed. - Kshitij Prasai alifewellcreated.com
Quit Your Job And Live - A Beginners Guide to Building a Location Free Income & Travel Hacking Your Way Around the World - Adrian Landsberg thelifestylecompound.com
Optimize for Victory - A Simple Approach to Overcome Challenges and Achieve Your Dreams - Lisa Kardos optimizebooks.com
The Mindful Walker - Rediscovering the Simple Path to a Healthier, Happier, More Peaceful Life - Alex Strauss themindfulwalker.com
Take Your Power Back - Healing Lessons, Tips, and Tools for Abuse Survivors - Evelyn M. Ryan yourlifelifter.com
At the Core of Every Heart: Reflections, Insights, and Practices for Waking Up and Living Free - Dr. Gail Brenner gailbrenner.com
I, Mammal: How to Make Peace With the Animal Urge for Social Power - Loretta G. Breuning, PhD innermammalinstitute.org
The Impact of the Human Stress Response - The Biologic Origins of Human Stress - Mary Wingo, Ph.D. marywingo.com
The Ten-Year Turnaround: Transform Your Personal Finances and Achieve Financial Freedom in The Next Ten Years - Matthew Paulson mattpaulson.com
Long Term Person, Short Term World: How to Manage Time, Tasks, and Texts: Methods for Living an Ambitious, Authentic, Unapologetic Life: Goal Management and Personal Productivity in the Modern World - Michael Motta mjmottajr.com
The Fountain of Youth is Just A Breath Away: Breathing Exercises For Relaxation, Health And Vitality - Molly Larkin mollylarkin.com
People Centricity: The Incredible Power of Putting Other People First - Stephen Hewett kallistipublishing.com
Love is the answer: A Guide to Awakening the Heart and Stepping into True Authenticity - Zoe Davenport zoedavenport.co.uk
Vision to Reality - How Short Term Massive Action Equals Maximum Results - Honoree Corder honoreecorder.com
Turning Imagination into Results - Strategies to Elevate Your LIfe and Career - James McCrae shityouregosays.com
Simplify - 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life - Joshua Becker becomingminimalist.com
Shut Up and Write - The No-Nonsense, No B.S. Guide to Getting Words On the Page - Mridu Khullar Relph theinternationalfreelancer.com
Write Your Way Out Of Depression: Practical Self-Therapy For Creative Writers. - Rayne Hall raynehall.com
Tick-Tack - The Story of Your Time - How to Tame TIME and Make Him Your Ally! - Alina Margineanu alinamargineanu.com
Getting a Grip on Leadership - How to Learn Leadership Without Making All the Mistakes Yourself - Robyn Pearce gettingagrip.com
Getting a Grip on The Paper War - Managing Information in the Modern Office - Robyn Pearce gettingagrip.com
Working With Todoist - Get Started with Todoist so You Can Get Better Organized and Achieve Greater Productivity - Carl Pullein carlpullein.com
Your Digital Life - Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Life Organised and Put Technology to Work for You - Carl Pullein carlpullein.com
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Labels:
affirmation,
Agile,
art of change,
books,
career,
change,
consulting,
learning,
motivation,
problem solving,
success,
training,
writing
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