The Two Things Question
“You know, the Two Things. For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.”
“Oh,” I said. “Okay, here are the Two Things about economics. One: Incentives matter. Two: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
Ever since that evening, I’ve been playing the Two Things game. Whenever I meet someone who belongs to a different profession (i.e., a profession I haven’t played this game with), or who knows something about a subject I'm unfamiliar with, I pose the Two Things question.
So what are The Two Things for what you do?
For Farming I would say:
1 Farm as though you will farm forever, live as though you will die tomorrow.
2 The best manure is the Farmer's boot - (also known as management by walking about)
For a landowner I would say:
1 Be mature enough when young to plant a tree.
2 Be immature enough when old to climb it.
I look forward to hearing yours.
Comments
Learn to say "no".
Learn to say "yes".
Posted by: dearieme | September 13, 2006 11:19 AM
Politics:
(i) Everything is grey.
(ii) True numbers lighten the shade.
Best regards
Posted by: Nigel Sedgwick | September 13, 2006 11:20 AM
"1 Be mature enough when young to plant a tree.
2 Be immature enough when old to climb it."
I like that.
Posted by: Deogolwulf | September 13, 2006 11:42 AM
Software development:
1. All software can be further optimised to remove at least one more line of code.
2. All software has at least one more bug in it.
By induction, it can be seen that this proves that all software can be reduced to a single line of code that doesn't work.
Posted by: Simon Jester | September 13, 2006 1:43 PM
General mechanics:
1. If you mess with a thing long enough, it will break.
2. If you push something hard enough, it will fall over.
Corollary to #2: You can't fall off the floor.
Posted by: Blackwing1 | September 13, 2006 9:21 PM
Web design:
1. Not everyone has 20/20 vision
2. Not every visitor is using _your_ browser
Posted by: Pete in Dunbar | September 14, 2006 7:46 PM
The Military:
1. Train hard, fight easy.
2. Shit happens.
Posted by: Tripper | September 15, 2006 6:14 PM
Theatre production
1. Never spend money until you have it, and always over budget by 25% minimum.
2. The idea is to get bums on seats, not to keep the director happy.
DK
Posted by: Devil's Kitchen | September 17, 2006 5:11 PM