2. Learning something new is frustrating. It involves being
dumb on the way to being smart.
Once we get good enough (at our tools, at our work) it's
easier and easier to skip learning how to do the next
thing, because, hey, those fifteen minutes are a hassle.
Learning to use the new fax machine, or a different
interface on the voice mail or even, yikes, a new version
of Photoshop. (I confess that I dropped off the
Photoshop train a half dozen versions ago, much to my
chagrin.)
3. And so we get in the habit of giving a half effort, not
really reading the instructions, shrugging our shoulders
and moving on. The professional in us that was always
eager to find tools that added leverage becomes the
complacent coaster, defending what's on the table as
'good enough'.
The problem with evaluating the first fifteen minutes of
frustration is that we easily forget about the 5,000
minutes of leverage that frustration earns us if we stick it
out.
Yes, Isaac Asimov typed all 400 of his books on a
manual typewriter. But I'm glad Cory Doctorow has a
laptop.