GOOD, now what? #

I have discovered this saying by Jocko Willink while reading Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris and it has forever changed the way I approach interruptions, unexpected requirements or emergencies.

Things that happen during software development:

• The client has delayed the launch by two weeks? We get to have time to improve the code that we wrote early in the project.
• The server had an issue during the preview demo? We get to avoid a major downtime during the public launch.
• The project requires a technology we are not that familiar with? We get to learn something new.
• A junior member asks many questions? In a year we will have another productive member in our team.
• You are running in circles figuring out a coding solution? You will get to learn new thinking tools for the next time.
• The project I am halfway through gets cancelled? I have more time to spend mentoring the team.
• You get assigned to solve some Helpdesk issues? You will know more about the customer and their day to day issues.
• The big project you were hoping to showcase your skills got scaled down? You will ship faster the useful feature to your customers.
• The office network is down? You get to read a chapter from the book you have been putting off.
• The data processing is slower than expected? You get to have more time to draw a better a diagram of the system and writer a better documentation.

These are the things that are off the top of my head but the list goes on and on. How are ou going to use the newly freed time because that one thing is no longer happening when it supposed to be happening.