TheFocus.Quest

Jigs for thinking

Today, I had one of those software problems that involve multiple moving parts and was wondering about the best way to test all relevant cases.

Is jotting notes on a sheet of paper enough? Should I make a matrix of cases to keep track of their testing? Automate some parts, perhaps, or all of it?

In woodworking, producing some tools to aid work is very common. Jigs to hold pieces at the right angle, planers to shave surfaces and even workbenches are built.

In my vicarious living as a woodworker —binging on YouTube videos, that is— one thing I have noticed is that the pros really know how to shape and adjust their tools and their workflow. Woodworkers making wooden tools to do woodworking; it's all very meta.

Selecting, building and configuring the tools optimally is essential to doing good work.

A planer is a concrete thing that we can describe, understand and reproduce. The small intangible trinkets we use to aid knowledge work are more ephemeral, less defined. Everyone has their style of diagramming, taking notes, etcetera.

What I'm thinking is that it's a good idea to keep the sketches of the best tools I come up with or see in use by others; by doing so, I should end up with a better thinking workshop.