Over the last few months I’ve been playing Flow Free, a popular iOS game (there’s an Android version too). It’s my type of game, a casual puzzle game that I can pick up and put down whenever I want.

I’ve also found the game to be an interesting metaphor. Too often I see smart people stuck at the beginning of something. Flow rewards starting. Look for a familiar pattern, and go. Sometimes your initial idea doesn’t work out and you have to start over. And that’s ok. It’s way better to try something, fail and fix it than it is to still be stuck at the beginning.

I’m reminded of the famous quote from Thomas Edison:

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

I’m building a large web application right now and I have the big picture in mind. I also know there are parts of that picture that aren’t fully focused yet. I know that I’ll have to figure them out when I get to them. But I can’t not start because I don’t have all the answers. I need to start. By starting I get to the missing bits faster and will have more information to fill them in when I get there.