The market doesn’t give a shit how hard you worked. Users just want your software to do what they need, and you get a zero otherwise. That is one of the most distinctive differences between school and the real world: there is no reward for putting in a good effort. In fact, the whole concept of a “good effort” is a fake idea adults invented to encourage kids. It is not found in nature.
--Paul Graham
(When I saw this quote, I thought it had to have been posted before, but googling turned up nothing.)
I disagree with this quote. In the real world, many things are’t all or nothing. The equivalent of a good effort isn’t not producing any software, it’s producing software that’s marginally worse than the best software you could produce. That software will sell marginally less well than the best software you could produce, and produce marginally less profit, but it will still sell.
This doesn’t say software is all-or-nothing. Not producing the best software you can gets you money only if it (to some extent) still does what the customer needs. Besides misinformed customers, if it doesn’t do what the customer needs, you do get nothing. If it is not-quite-perfect, it’s the result that gets you your not-quite-what-it-could-have-been profit. Not the effort.
As a software engineer at a company with way too much work to go around, I can tell you that making a “good effort” goes a long way. 90% of the time you don’t have to “make it work or get a zero”. As long as you are showing progress you can generally keep the client happy (or at least not firing you) as you get things done, even if you are missing deadlines. And this seems very much normal to me. I’m not sure where in the market you have to “make it work or get a zero”. I’m not even convinced that exists.
The essay is about startups. Perhaps they are different from your company. Also, getting things done but not in time for deadlines is not the same as not getting them done but making a good effort.
The closest you can come to getting an actual “A for effort” is through creating cultural content, such as a Kickstarter project or starting a band. You’ll get extra success when people see that you’re interested in what you’re doing, over and beyond as an indicator that what you’ll produce is otherwise of quality. People want to be part of something that is being cared for, and in some cases would prefer it to lazily created perfection.
I’d still call it though an “A for signalling effort.”
That’s not necessarily false, but it’s a dangerous thing to say to yourself. Mostly when I find myself thinking it, I’ve just wasted a great deal of time, and I’m trying to convince myself that it wasn’t really wasted. It’s easy to tell myself, hard to verify, and more pleasant than thinking my time-investment was for nothing.
It’s a continuum. I certainly wouldn’t call a time when you’re having fun and training your reflexes or pattern matching ability wasted. Or sleep. Or even sitting around anywhere where you can think stuff and meditate. The only wasted time is the one spent in to much pain to even think.
--Paul Graham (When I saw this quote, I thought it had to have been posted before, but googling turned up nothing.)
I disagree with this quote. In the real world, many things are’t all or nothing. The equivalent of a good effort isn’t not producing any software, it’s producing software that’s marginally worse than the best software you could produce. That software will sell marginally less well than the best software you could produce, and produce marginally less profit, but it will still sell.
This doesn’t say software is all-or-nothing. Not producing the best software you can gets you money only if it (to some extent) still does what the customer needs. Besides misinformed customers, if it doesn’t do what the customer needs, you do get nothing. If it is not-quite-perfect, it’s the result that gets you your not-quite-what-it-could-have-been profit. Not the effort.
Completely wrong.
As a software engineer at a company with way too much work to go around, I can tell you that making a “good effort” goes a long way. 90% of the time you don’t have to “make it work or get a zero”. As long as you are showing progress you can generally keep the client happy (or at least not firing you) as you get things done, even if you are missing deadlines. And this seems very much normal to me. I’m not sure where in the market you have to “make it work or get a zero”. I’m not even convinced that exists.
The essay is about startups. Perhaps they are different from your company. Also, getting things done but not in time for deadlines is not the same as not getting them done but making a good effort.
The quote refers to the (end) market and users, not the internal workings of a software development firm.
But eventually you do have to make sure that things are done and work.
The closest you can come to getting an actual “A for effort” is through creating cultural content, such as a Kickstarter project or starting a band. You’ll get extra success when people see that you’re interested in what you’re doing, over and beyond as an indicator that what you’ll produce is otherwise of quality. People want to be part of something that is being cared for, and in some cases would prefer it to lazily created perfection.
I’d still call it though an “A for signalling effort.”
A good effort doesn’t result in valuable software, but it could result in you learning to program better, increasing your human capital.
That’s not necessarily false, but it’s a dangerous thing to say to yourself. Mostly when I find myself thinking it, I’ve just wasted a great deal of time, and I’m trying to convince myself that it wasn’t really wasted. It’s easy to tell myself, hard to verify, and more pleasant than thinking my time-investment was for nothing.
It sure seems like a step up from when your time is really wasted, and you spent it all playing on the computer.
It’s a continuum. I certainly wouldn’t call a time when you’re having fun and training your reflexes or pattern matching ability wasted. Or sleep. Or even sitting around anywhere where you can think stuff and meditate. The only wasted time is the one spent in to much pain to even think.
Mmm, no, whether you like it or not people who live off rent-seeking do exist.
True, but no obviously opposed to the quote. Rents are not a reward for a good effort.