
Ask HN: Ideation vs. Focused Execution. Are They Confronted? - Torai
Understanting ideation as problem solving, innovation, optimization, conceptual design... all of them being the same or similar things.<p>I think that when thinking about solving a problem or proposing something new and good, generally speaking, you must have that type of personality that focuses on some global abstract understanding of things, and some visual intuition about how all variables of the problem interact.<p>And I see that people who excel at doing some technical job is good at focused execution.
One is the wood and the other is the tree. 
Is it like Yoga and Power Lifting?<p>Yeah, there is some extraordinary people that is good at both. And one maybe can get to be great at both by proper time managing.<p>What are your thoughts on this?
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itamarst
They're different skills, yes. But if you want to be truly productive you need
to have both: come up with the idea that will actually solve the problem
efficiently, and then implement it correctly.

In general I tend to think of problem solving as having three stages:

1\. Identifying the problem.

2\. Coming up with a solution, what you call "ideation".

3\. Implementing the solution, what you call "execution".

Each has its own set of sub-skills. Beginning software engineers usually just
do #3, "senior" engineers do #2 (senior as in typical job title), and some
engineers do #1. (In reality there's overlap in how you apply these skills,
this is obviously a simplification, and there are other ways of thinking of
this, e.g. here's a slightly different mapping:
[https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/10/04/technical-skills-
pro...](https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/10/04/technical-skills-productive/))

So I personally think of it more as progression, rather than necessarily
distinct things that never appear in the same person.

In one chapter of my book
([https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/](https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/))
I cover some practical techniques for each stage, in order to help readers
become more productive as an engineer.

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twobyfour
Yes, they conflict with one another because they require very different
mindsets. Ideation thrives in boredom, which is the opposite of focus. It's
best spurred by getting away from your desk and taking a walk or a shower or
going to the gym or doing something else that will keep your body but not your
brain busy.

Both do require similar time management skills, though, because they require
solid blocks of time without interruption.

