second – From the desk of Adam Thomas

Take a second

We are human beings, not robots. It is good to remind ourselves of that fact every once in a while.

As humans, we make decisions. Sometimes, they come from our lizard brain, as Seth likes to say. The lizard brain has a purpose, and it is to keep us alive.

Keeping us alive means bad decision-making. It creates cognitive bias.

One bias that affects us is the availability bias, which is when we rely on the first impression.

You know the saying, don’t judge a book by its cover? Well, we often do, and we pay the price. The first impression is often wrong. Every time we “just knew” something about someone, there is 100 times where we were just off.

This is worth remembering when we are “sure” of an idea or person.

All perception is a gamble.

Get to the Second Draft

The first draft is important. It’s also the first barrier.

Granted, it helps us frame what we want to say.

That draft, however, isn’t what you ship. It is the first hurdle.

Thinking that the first try is worth shipping is a trap for the amateur. It creates a feedback loop. You may move fast while making. If so, you risk shipping work that isn’t your best.

You also have a built-in excuse: “It was something I just threw together.”

You stop yourself from doing better work when you ignore a first draft’s primary purpose.

That purpose is simple. The first draft exists to get to the second one.

Things get better with time and intentional work.