Busy Doesn’t Mean Create Value

People are often prideful for being busy. Why? Have you ever considered this idea of busy-ness? Why is it so glorified?

In linear domain, being busy makes sense because one hour of work will give you (more or less) one hour worth of result. Sewing shirt for 8 hours will get you 8 hours worth of shirt sewing effort, and the more effort you put in, the more shirt you sew. Sure, there is variance, but not much. A few examples of linear domain: bread baking, wood cutting, cooking.

Nonlinear domain, however, is a completely different beast—effort and time spent has little to do with result. In programming, a coder could code all year without creating anything of value, then another coder could create an app in few days that end up being adored by millions. In writing, a writer could write a hundred books without saying anything, then another writer could write a book that lasts hundreds of years. In music, a musician could practice for decades without graduating from mediocrity, then another musician could invent a brand-new music genre in their 20s. Podcasting, video making, product building, designing, drawing, and the things mentioned previously are few examples of nonlinear domain.

Linear and nonlinear domain have different rules, different winning conditions, different possible outcomes. Through technology, the world is getting increasingly nonlinear, and in this domain, there are things that matter much, much more than being busy.

August 13, 2021