How to waste time and overcomplicate things
Note that in this case it happened when the author had the full context of what as needed to get done.<p>In business, the situation is usually even worse. The customer needs some problem solved. They assume the easiest way there is to get a different problem solved. They ask a customer support-type person about that. The CS person assumes a solution is best, and then go to a project manager. The PM assumes a particular implementation is best, and goes to a developer.<p>By the time the developer is trying to solve the customer problem, it has been transformed into a different problem at least four times, by mere assumptions that rarely have anything to do with reality.<p>Always, always ask "Why am I doing this? What evidence do I have that suggests this specific thing absolutely needs to be done?"<p>One of my favourite quotes is "It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble, it's what you know for sure that just ain't so."<p>----<p>It's not a small effect either. I've heard serious, well-reasoned estimates ranging between 50 % and 99 % of our work being completely unnecessary busywork.<p>Imagine that. In the most pessimistic (optimistic?) case you could spend half the year sipping drinks on a beach and still get just as much truly useful work done.