Values

Building on the shoulders of giants & search driven development

admin@example.com — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 23:15:13 +0000

Building on the shoulders of giants & search driven development

There’s no denying that the pace of technology and therefore of development and progress is increasing exponentially. From any angle from which we view it, from science to any other area of life, as we look back centuries, decades, years, months or days all we see is a rapid ramp-up.

We’re all standing on the shoulders of giants whether that is Galileo or Isaac Newton.

The Open Source movement takes much pride in building things for a common good. Creating a swiss army KNIFE of tools that is flexible and resolves a need well at least once.

So before we charge ahead wondering if we’ve re-invented the wheel please do sit back a little with curiosity. Are you able to distill this idea so well you can research if someone has done it before?

Sadly too many times we’re so focused on the latest fad, technology or process that we lose sight of fundamentals. We become obsessed with Paradigms (Agile or Waterfall), Methodologies (RAD, RUP, XP) or Practices (TDD, XP, DDD, BDD) but we never realise we have built an entire CRM from scratch and attached it to our bespoke system.

So before you run ahead check to see if there’s a giant you can shoulder off and add value on top of it.

The compound interest of relationships & the importance of trust

admin@example.com — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:26:48 +0000

The compound interest of relationships & the importance of trust

Some of of us are aware of a a quote attributed to Albert Einstein even though it turns out there’s no evidence him saying it:

Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world

Sadly when you’re a genius many quotes eventually get attributed to you in order to give it some weight.

But this does not take away from the weight and beauty of the concept of compound interest in particular when we apply it beyond the realms of finance coupled with frequency:

(1.01%) ³⁶⁵ ≈ 37.78%

When applied to relationships, improvements and increase in trust compounds. What may have required a detailed and bullet proof contract or statement of work eventually becomes a handshake with much lower friction. The time and effort invested in relationships compounds as trust over time.

High trust environments and societies allow individuals to cooperate efficiently without constant oversight.

On the other hand, losing trust has a devastating effect. Whether this erodes over time or more frequently when trust is lost immediately and all the capital invested is lost.

Which brings us to the following equation:

A full 1% loss per day is slightly harsher: £100 falls to about £2.55 after a year (a 97.45% loss).

Math can be both beautiful and terrifying.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQTRH9mAKtJ/

https://nav.al/long-term

The importance of margin and boredom as creative fuel

admin@example.com — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 20:24:54 +0000

The importance of margin and boredom as creative fuel

Somehow and at some point having a schedule crammed in with no margin became a sign of status and even a goal. Being busy as if we were ants. And sadly this has crept into other areas of life.

We only need to look to the universe and nature to find rhythms everywhere. From the 4 seasons to day, night, dawn and dusk. Each pointing towards rhythms of pace and space.

Having margin in our life allows us the space to step back, review, think, ideate and react. Having your schedule packed out results in missed opportunities where being able to react in a timely manner positions you well, be it an opportunity to cover a need or to be there for someone in need.

Having spaces in our days, weeks, months and year with nothing but ourselves and our mind in what is that elusive boredom our schedule and our smart phones have robbed us from.

We need both margin and boredom to wonder, to be grateful, to be inspired and to be creative.

Or have you never been stuck in the depths of a problem which appeared to have no solution only for a brisk walk and change of scenery to bring the frame and mind and solution hand in hand.