Never forget your roots! What follows is an extract from The Forme of Data (1390) A Short Recet for an Actif Custumer Fonnel Take þe Custumer & first see if he hath paied at þe leeste oon invois; if he neuer paied, cast hym aside. Then enquere if he be cancellid; if so, holde hym not actif, how fair so euer his past was. Next take þe laste invois & loke if it be over-due; if it standeth unpaid beyond þe day, marke hym inactif. …

I picked up a parenting technique from William Bligh, as described in The Mutiny on the Bounty. While traveling in a small boat after the mutiny, Captain Bligh needed to fairly distribute shares of a seabird the crew was lucky to catch. The technique mentioned was “Who Shall Have This?”, as follows: One member of the crew stands with his back to the item being divvied up Another member points to each portion in turn, and asks “who shall have this? …

Why waste time make many decision when few principle do trick?" At my day job I need to make decisions all the time, and it’s hard to scale decision making. One technique I’ve had success with when encountering a new decision to be made is to: Step back to align on the principle we want to use when making that type of decision Transparently write down the principle, and share with everyone you made the decision with. …

When writing about a new feature, product, etc. the first two questions I want answered before anything else are what is it? and how can I play with it?. I first encountered this construction in one (or both?) of two books I had as a child, Explorabook and Earthsearch. What is it? One to two sentences, bolded. Written for a general audience, and appears “above the fold” Readers immediately can judge whether they care about your thing, and pass on it if not How do I play with it? …

With two kids, I often have to arbitrate between what they both want and make a decision. The choices range from which TV show to watch to which kind of oatmeal we’re going to eat. When handled poorly, making a choice can disappoint or anger anywhere from one to two children. Here are a few techniques I’ve employed and why they work or don’t: Everyone gets what they want Distribute devices for everyone to watch their own show, or make two separate breakfasts. …