{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-post-js","path":"/blog/preemptive-reflection/","result":{"data":{"mdx":{"body":"function _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"title\": \"Preemptive Reflection\",\n  \"date\": \"2020-01-07T00:00:00.000Z\",\n  \"banner\": \"banner.png\",\n  \"tags\": [\"30-lessons\"]\n};\n\nvar makeShortcode = function makeShortcode(name) {\n  return function MDXDefaultShortcode(props) {\n    console.warn(\"Component \" + name + \" was not imported, exported, or provided by MDXProvider as global scope\");\n    return mdx(\"div\", props);\n  };\n};\n\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n      props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, [\"components\"]);\n\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I don't know where I picked up this technique, but I've found it to be a\\npowerful method for assessing the priority of a situation, or conflicting\\nsituations. Let's just start with an example of how it would apply to a\\nreal-world scenario, and then talk about it.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I'm close to finishing up work for the day \\u2014 let's say around 4:45pm \\u2014 but I see\\nI can start a new task that I anticipate will take around 30 minutes to\\ncomplete. That means I'm going to work until after 5pm (around 5:15pm). That\\nalso means I'll delay leaving my office and going to eat dinner with my family.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Now, I could do this task the next day, but it's also Friday, and I'd \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"really\"), \"\\nlike to wrap up this task before heading into the weekend.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"What do I do?\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"But first, a tangentially related analogy. We do team retrospectives at\\nDifferential where our Product Teams get together at a regular cadence to talk\\nabout what's been going well, and how we can improve. We follow a format called\\nthe \\\"Lightning Decision Jam\\\" where we identify problem statements, vote, reframe\\nthose problem statements into \\\"How might we\\u2026\\\" questions, vote, write solutions,\\nand then determine the best solutions to the highest-voted problem (or \\\"How\\nmight we\\u2026\\\") we will tackle.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"What does this have to do with the initial proposition? I know, I know. Stay\\nwith me.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"One of the key methods to the \\\"Lightning Decision Jam\\\" is reframing the problem\\nstatements into the \\\"How might we\\u2026\\\" question equivalents. This is because the\\nsimple act of rephrasing can drastically impact our interpretation and,\\nultimately, response.\"), mdx(\"blockquote\", null, mdx(\"p\", {\n    parentName: \"blockquote\"\n  }, \"Pull Requests take far too long to get approved.\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"vs.\"), mdx(\"blockquote\", null, mdx(\"p\", {\n    parentName: \"blockquote\"\n  }, \"How might we speed up Pull Request reviews?\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I imagine you, like I, have a \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"drastically\"), \" different reaction to these two\\nstatements. One is framing a problem, and the other is rephrasing an\\nopportunity. Problems and opportunities, by definition, are seemingly opposites.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"A \\\"problem\\\" is defined as \\\"a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or\\nharmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome\\\". And an \\\"opportunity\\\" is\\ndefined as \\\"a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something\\\".\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"\\\"to be dealt with\\\" vs. \\\"makes it possible.\\\" This is why the phrasing of an\\nopportunity instead of a problem is so powerful. I'm sure you've heard the\\nexpression about \\\"looking at the situation a different way.\\\" This is the\\nsimplest way to do that. Take the problem and rephrase it as an opportunity. It\\nopens up everything. There are now \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"possibilities\"), \" where, before, there were\\n\", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"limitations\"), \". We can now tackle the challenge appropriately.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Okay, now back to the original problem of trying to decide if I should wrap up\\nthis task before 5pm, or just call it and go eat dinner with my family. The\\nformat of the question we need to ask ourselves goes like this:\"), mdx(\"blockquote\", null, mdx(\"p\", {\n    parentName: \"blockquote\"\n  }, \"When I look back on my life, will I think I should have \", \"[option 1]\", \" OR \", \"[option\\n2]\", \"?\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Before we try it, a little advanced advice: we want to extrapolate the\\nfill-in-the-blank spots to phrase it as if it were a repeatable pattern of\\nbehavior. For example, in our case, it would be about working later vs. spending\\nmore time with family.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Okay, back to it\\u2026\"), mdx(\"blockquote\", null, mdx(\"p\", {\n    parentName: \"blockquote\"\n  }, \"When I look back on my life, will I think I should have worked later OR spent\\nmore time with my family?\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"When you say it that way, the answer seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? I will\\nabsolutely think I should have spent more time with my family \\u2014 or at least I\\n\", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"hope\"), \" I don't say that because I'm making wiser decisions in the here-and-now.\\nBut we can only do that when we face the choices in front of us, and decide how\\nwe should prioritize our time.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Let's try another example, but this time, let's go with something a little less\\nobvious \\u2014 i.e. the choices are more comparable. I'm in the same position of\\nwrapping up work at 4:45pm on Friday with the one 30-minute task left. But this\\ntime, I don't have the conflict of dinner because my family is on vacation.\\nWait, are they trying to get away from me? Why am I not on vacation with them!?\\nFocus, Drew, focus.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"So now the question is different because there isn't an entirely direct\\nconflict. However, if we think about it, working later on this task \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"does\"), \"\\nconflict with \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"not\"), \" working; or taking a break; or going to read. So, at some\\nlevel, we can still weigh priorities here. Let's try it.\"), mdx(\"blockquote\", null, mdx(\"p\", {\n    parentName: \"blockquote\"\n  }, \"When I look back on my life, will I think I should have worked later OR spent\\nmore time for myself?\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"That's obvious! I would want to spend more time for myself. So we can still\\nobjectively look at the competing priorities for our time \\u2014 and ascertain what\\nwill provide the most value \\u2014 even when the choices may seem equal by\\ncomparison.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Time is the single most valuable and finite resource we have. We need to use it\\nwisely. We need to spend it on the essential \\u2014 activities that directly\\ncorrelate to the highest-value activities we want to partake in: spending time\\nwith family, reading, drawing, being outside, etc. The lists we all have are\\nendless (Yeah, I'm talking about you, too! You over there. No, not the red\\nshirt\\u2026 the blue. Yeah, you.). The only thing we can control is \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"how\"), \" we use our\\ntime. Because there's no stopping time. It's relentless.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Time is going to run out before we know it. Don't waste it. Make smart decisions\\nabout the priorities in your life. Use a method like this one \\u2014 and surely many\\nothers \\u2014 to easily decipher which behaviors, activities, and choices provide the\\nmost value and joy.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"You know why? Because life is too short for anything less.\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","frontmatter":{"date":"January 07, 2020","title":"Preemptive Reflection","banner":{"childImageSharp":{"fluid":{"base64":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABQAAAALCAYAAAB/Ca1DAAAACXBIWXMAAAsSAAALEgHS3X78AAABCklEQVQoz5VTYU/CMBDl//8X/AAKAYMiiANGBsGAjLAPBg0CEyfDbizrnvS0y7a4UC9ZXtde3r13vRaQiCiKUrhab7C138E8Dx+OE59l88RSYgGZ4JwTTs052lqPvlK1jkbrHubCSuWcJZQJ7uGAYvkq3vePR8LKdQPO5z5Llk8oK+vDEZ6XL7QOwzA+H0+eSOkXY2oKJaGwObcs2Lsd/QdBEKtsd3vY2Pb/LAtbmj7AxWWFlJaqNdRumugODBjjR3XL2cS966JvDOH5PhWo396lblpZocBk70RMZuaJfET7yoR/zZnoqyR/6Os0Tj+XxdUs5xXgv+TNjobX1Zv6YOf1NPl6GPNyCb8B4ipWWiLfYAsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","aspectRatio":1.875,"src":"/static/bb065c1f95dfb7a2c88efba168f3c7cf/d456e/banner.png","srcSet":"/static/bb065c1f95dfb7a2c88efba168f3c7cf/8005d/banner.png 188w,\n/static/bb065c1f95dfb7a2c88efba168f3c7cf/49959/banner.png 375w,\n/static/bb065c1f95dfb7a2c88efba168f3c7cf/d456e/banner.png 750w,\n/static/bb065c1f95dfb7a2c88efba168f3c7cf/130bf/banner.png 1125w,\n/static/bb065c1f95dfb7a2c88efba168f3c7cf/52e98/banner.png 1500w","sizes":"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"}}},"tags":["30-lessons"]},"timeToRead":4,"fields":{"slug":"/preemptive-reflection/"}}},"pageContext":{"isCreatedByStatefulCreatePages":false,"slug":"/preemptive-reflection/"}}}