Black Triangles

[updated x 2] Between the occasional inaguration and not a few meetings, it was a crazy week and so much to blog about. But it's Friday, I'm tired, so all I gots right now is Black Triangles.

All the dev team had after month of effort was a black triangle on a screen...but it was more than that.

Afterwards, we came to refer to certain types of accomplishments as "black triangles." These are important accomplishments that take a lot of effort to achieve, but upon completion you don't have much to show for it -- only that more work can now proceed. It takes someone who really knows the guts of what you are doing to appreciate a black triangle.

When working on complex projects, the black triangle moment is always the high point for me; it's when success occurs. Before you've got a framework built, there's significant doubt about how the project will turn out, if can even be done. After you get that first little result through the whole maze and it's clear how the whole thing will work, the rest becomes almost inevitable. (via migurski)

Truth spoken well, stolen verbatim, from Jason Kottke.

[update]Okay, I'm feeling guilty about the lifted post so let's at least add something to the mix: a mash-up from work in progress. Jason and others might identify with this, especially the hi-lited bit, and I suspect Johnnie Moore will not. Doesn't matter. It's not for them. It's to explain the difference between tigers and horses and dogs to those who have difficulty making the distinction.



[update some more 01-25-09] Got a facebook msg/question on this. The 4 cycles idea is from experience, and from conversations with people around the question of what makes people naturally comfy with change and others not. Handy stuff to be aware of if you're in the change/challenge status quo business. Maybe I should be less flip and explain better in a post. I'll link to it when it's done.