Big Ideas in the Big Moo
From this Seth Godin post
"Griffin does a nice job of summarizing some of the big ideas in the Big Moo:
1. Real security comes from growth ( Page xiv ) To me this is the best statement in the book and it's right there in the preface.
2. Wanting growth and attaining growth are two different things ( Preface xv ) - Companies usually end up paralyzed by trying to focus on how they'll grow instead of actually growing.
3. Those who fit in now won't stand out later ( Page 5 ) - It's difficult to change once you get into a rhythm of mediocrity.
4. If you name something, you get power over it ( Page 18 ) - Ever try to change a bad nickname ? When a name catches on, it becomes very powerful.
5. Don't concentrate on making a standard. Once you create the standard, you've created a commodity and your customers will seek something like it, but cheaper ( Page 23 ) - *cough* Netscape *cough*
6. Being efficient is not as good as being robust ( Page 52 ) - There's such a thing as "good enough". Being flexible is better than trying to squeeze out a few extra performance cycles.
7. You can't predict the future ( Page 55 ) - ...
8. Everything is version .9, waiting for just one more upgrade before it's done ( Page 86 ) - Releasing something stable, but not complete is better than waiting it's "perfect". It will never be perfect.
9. Betting on change is always the safest bet ( Page 91 ) - You can't constrain change. People have scars from trying to.
10. Creativity is made up of iteration and juxtaposition ( Page 95 ) - Mash things together enough times, and something interesting will happen.
11. Compromise kills. Doing something half-ass is worse than doing nothing ( Page 97 ) - If you don't have enough information to implement something, ignore it and move on. It's better than trying to guess. Remember #7.
12. Novelty for the sake of novelty is risky and a recipe for irrelevance ( Page 100 ) - Solve a problem. I've written about this ...
13. The energy isn't in the idea, it's in the execution ( Page 101 ) - Everyone wants to sit around and think up cool stuff. Sooner or later, you're going to have to actually build something.
14. A product is what the customer thinks it is ( Page 131 ) - How many times have you gotten pissed at a user of your software for "using it wrong" ?
15. Don't let the seeds stop you from enjoying the watermelon ( Page 134 ) - The world is grey. Every solution, product, feature is the result of several trade-offs.
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