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> "If… you have 'binders of lore' and no book... you’re living with serious Idea Debt."

Moving from a daydream to some actual artefacts the first step _away_ from Idea Debt, not further into it. In technical terms, this could be writing a script instead of building an application or creating a spec and some documentation before writing some code. I'd argue that this is where you start to flesh-out and make real your idea.

Binders of "lore" would be an amazing resource to have at hand when you actually do come to writing your book. Surely this isn't a waste of time but it's where the idea ruminates, develops and matures. If anything, it improves the quality of an idea and can help make that idea a reality.




Inventory is waste. It is one of the most insidious kinds of waste since it feels productive generating it. In reality it is waste.

It being waste doesn't mean you dont need it - that's how waste builds up: you create stuff in case, or you save things in case, or you build an extra large buffer just in case. It's all done with good intentions. If one of your goals in life is to be effective you need to work to eliminate as much inventory as possible, same as the other types of waste.

Overproduction, Inventory and Overprocessing are the three most insidious types of waste - they seem like good things.

Why not gold plate the thing? Just add these few features in case you need them. Why not make a few extra just in case, why not save that thing that you may need later or maybe you will finish at some point.

The other types of waste are more clearly negative.


Creative people over-produce ideas because that's what being creative means.

The problem isn't having too many ideas - it's not finishing any of them, ever. At some point you have to spend enough time on at least one project to get it out into the world.

That always means work that can be boring and feel like a chore, even if the project is the most exciting thing to happen since the invention of fire.

The difference between professionals and amateurs is that professionals have a balanced tolerance for that part of the process, and understand that you have to do at least some of the boring stuff to finish.

Amateur dabblers have none at all. When they get bored they move on, so they never finish anything. (In extreme cases they never truly start.)


Sure, inventory is waste. You need to store it, protect it and organize it. Maybe you never even end up using all of it.

The thing is that without inventory, you can't build anything. Manufacturers optimize their supply chains to keep minimal inventory and reliably acquire the supplies they need just before they run out.

...but the creative supply chain is not reliable. You need a lot of inventory because good ideas might not arrive right before you need them. Fortunately, a binder full of notes is a lot easier to manage than manufactured parts for thousands of cars.


I agree. It's a very thought-provoking piece, but I think the problem with the analogy is highlighted when the debt is transformed into an investment. Debts don't turn into investments. Assets turn into investments.


Building "binders of lore", while usually important, is actually much easier than actually writing the final product, and it's really not analogous to a spec (that would be your detailed outline). Background material is fun and feels productive, but can easily lead you around your goal rather than toward it. Maybe you operate differently, but as someone with a tendency to build worlds rather than plots, that part made perfect sense to me.


Yes, I'd say "binders of lore" are a rather good approach to a book.

While they would be far away from a video game or something...




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