Continuous Learning

I’ve been looking around for a blogging solution for the past year.

I started with Typepad, because at first I thought buying a professional service will allow me to focus on the right thing, which is to write articles. However, it was not to be.

Now - Six Apart obviously have been a pioneer in driving the blog world forward, but I found Typepad to be less than adequate, at least for my needs.

• The template system is inflexible - I wanted 800px width, but there were no such selection
• The WYSIWYG does too much - I am unable to control the font, layout, etc. without having to pull my hair out
• Simple stuff do not exist - for example, email to friend is a feature that I want but not offered
• And somehow, my site is never available to search engines

For the longest time, I struggle to get my site indexed by Google and Yahoo. Not getting my article ranked high, mind you, but just simply getting my site to be noticed by them. To now I am still struggling with it, and I have no idea why. I imagine it is partly my problem, and partly theirs, but the association just does not help… Anyways.

I then tried Blogger. While I like the simple intuitive feel, it just does not seem to offer enough features and controls, either. I did not try extensively, though, because I know I am looking for something else. Keep reading →

I have always wondered why there is such a focus on having a plan. Ready, Aim, Fire is the modus operandi for many. The project management 101, people call it. The first thing is to come up with a plan, then we can execute toward the plan, and the rest would be history.

“Measure twice, cut once.”

“Fail to plan is plan to fail.”

Now - I do not doubt the wisdom behind these sayings. After all, if we do not know where we want to go, or if we do not know how to get there, we are unlike to make it. What I question is the applicability of these statements, especially under what situation are they applicable.

Because I intrinsically believe the practical usage is limited, in the sense that we need additional rules & guidelines to utilize the wisdom.

What I said above might appeal intuitively to you - at least it certainly does to me. After all, there are no universal truths in this world right? The challenge for me though, is that people behave as if there is such truth, at least in the case of having a plan. The first question people ask me about my startup is, “what is your plan?” The first thing executives ask a manager of a new project is “what is your plan?” When we elect a president, we want to hear about the candidate’s plan. We as a culture always want to go somewhere, and we are in love with a leader who has a plan to take us there.

As if once we have a plan, we are guaranteed to get there. Keep reading →