Wysr by Cameron Armstrong

Share this post

We're All Winging It

www.wysr.xyz

Discover more from Wysr by Cameron Armstrong

Big dumb army man writes about rocks that think.
Continue reading
Sign in

We're All Winging It

If you think you're the exception... you're not.

Jul 19, 2023
1
Share this post

We're All Winging It

www.wysr.xyz
Share

The world is constructed entirely by people who are mostly winging it… and a lot of them don't realize that about themselves.

You, me, and everyone we know.

Welcome to my First Principles series.

I think all models of the world are wrong, but some are useful.

This is one of the ideas I default to when I have to make a decision with imperfect information.

We do okay.

I’ve personally commanded Bradley’s, generated (the only) critical research informing some business decisions at Amazon, built a few startups, and - more importantly - I know and interact with people living and working across pretty much the entire breadth of our economic, political, and military apparatuses.

And as it turns out…

22-year-old’s command the 18-year-old’s that drive those Bradley’s, it’s pretty standard that nobody really bothers to look at any data, startups are basically crossing a river by touching the stones, and there are a perspective-shattering amount of “yea I guess they’re fine?” types of people with hyperlocal spans of control that would make a despot blush.

Yet most things still turn out okay.

The Principle

Most people are winging it.

This doesn’t mean that people suck, that they can’t get better at stuff, or that there aren’t good reasons to weigh some people’s ideas more than others.

It just means that a huge, sorta terrifying number of the people you meet are:

  1. Doing that job or activity for the first time

  2. Doing the job or activity they’ve done before, but in a completely new environment or context

  3. Not necessarily being thoughtful about what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, or why they’re doing it

This is triply true as the world gets faster and more volatile.

In all likelihood, you’re reading this essay on device that didn’t even exist as a category of products when you were born.

How can you possibly expect someone to know how to do all this stuff that wasn’t practicable during the majority of their education and development?

Of course they’re just winging it!

Anyway, if they’re all winging it and doing okay, you’ll probably do fine at whatever bold thing you’re trying to do.

And if we stick with it for long enough, maybe we’ll eventually get good at our cosplays 🫡


I hope this added value to your day.

Please share this with someone who might find this interesting!

If you have any thoughts or questions about this essay - Let’s Chat

Come hang with me on Twitter or Farcaster

and, of course, please subscribe to Wysr

1
Share this post

We're All Winging It

www.wysr.xyz
Share
Comments
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Cameron Armstrong
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing