17th January 2021
Week 03/52
👍 Improve
Q: Wow do we convince ourselves to share work-in-progress, so we get the feedback we need to make it better sooner rather than later?
Here is a little code we use to try and overcome this natural reluctance to share work which is not “finished”...
In the early stages, when all we have is a rough idea, feedback on the concept is valuable but feedback on the polish is premature. Ask for 30% feedback.
Later, when the idea has been developed but still has rough edges, feedback on the details is useful but feedback on the foundation is too late and so more likely to be annoying than productive. Ask for 70% feedback.
When we are more explicit about the type of feedback we want when we share our work, we are more likely to get useful suggestions that improve the work. And this itself creates a positive feedback loop - the more we see the things we’re sharing improved by feedback we get from others, the more willing we are to share in the first place.
With that in mind, here is something I wrote a while back and have been tinkering with ever since, without being brave enough to publish it, partly because I wasn’t sure where to put it and partly because it’s a bit different so I was nervous about how it might be read:
I’m interested to hear what you think. 70% feedback please!
Related: Being Spartan with ideas
📸 Share
Late last year I started sharing some photos on Unsplash.
If you haven’t come across this site, it’s a great place to find high-resolution photos for presentations, etc. I’ve used it a lot, and so it felt good to start to reciprocate.
It was a buzz to see one of my photos featured. And then a few weeks later I spotted another one used in an article on Stuff.
I just uploaded a new batch of recent shots, including this fun one that I took on a short walk at Hokitika Gorge this week:
You can see all of the photos I’ve uploaded so far here:
Bonus: Unsplash Awards 2020
⚡️Recharge
This week we did a long road trip for the first time in many years and for the first time ever in an electric car, from where we live (near Nelson) to Wanaka via the West Coast in both directions.
We did just over 2000 kms, using 352 kWh of energy en route. Our most thirsty 10 km stretch was up the Cardrona ski field road (809 Wh/km average!) and our most efficient was on the way back down (-372 Wh/km). But overall we averaged 174 Wh/km. I have no idea if that’s good or bad (what the Strava equivalent data tracers for electric cars?)
In the process we eliminated any lingering range anxiety, thanks to the ChargeNet recharge stations that are now all over the country - we used them in Reefton, Franz Josef, Wanaka, Murchison and Greymouth as well as dedicated Tesla destination chargers at Cardrona Hotel and Highlands Motor Park in Cromwell.
Thanks to everybody involved in setting that network up - it enabled a memorable holiday.
I really enjoyed being back in the mode of filling every day intentionally for the first time in a few years. The year has started slowly as a result.
Top Three is a weekly collection of things I notice in 2021. I’m writing it for myself, and will include a lot of half-formed work-in-progress, but please feel free to follow along and share it if it’s interesting to you. If there is something that especially interests you please let me know.