Is Creation The Goal, Or A By-Product

My thinking process

Define the things we talk about.
- Process → Output → Outcome → Impact
- Process = how we work; Output = what we ship; Outcome = effect on users/field; Impact = durable change in the world.
If creation is the GOAL
- A clear goal can push publishing.
- When the environment is measurable, controllable and with short feedback loops, output target align resources.
- On the other hand, Goodhart Law remind us that once a measure becomes a target, it stops being a good measure.
  - Therefore pair targets with counter-mertrics.
    - Like retention and reliability floor.
If creation is the BY-PRODUCT
- In creative areas, volume raises the odds of peak work
  - Beethoven’s leave around 8000 pages of sketches.
  - Stephen King’s 2000 words daily quota.
  - Luhmann’s Zettelkasten → 70+ books and 400+ papers.
  - Equal-Odds Rule
  - Hot streak pattern (clustered high-impact periods).
- To sustain a lot of work, a good system and high-quality process is necessary.
- External pressure or validation is necessary to avoid self-referential loops.
  - Some time pressure helps: Darwin accelerated after Wallace’s 1858 letter.

Whether creation is the goal or the by-product depends on the uncertainty.
- Low uncertainty: creation = goal.
  - Use traid metrics: output, outcome and counter-metric.
- High certainty: creation = by-products.
  - Build system to raise productivity and ensure process quality.
Use outcome to check the process.