I'm reading "little bets" by Peter Sims. This book argues the merits of experimenting with minor investments in ideas with the purpose of learning and refining these into potentially great new discoveries. It's making me reflect on recent little bets that have shown some successes. I was pursuing this "strategy" without really knowing it!
For instance, a little less than a year ago I put some of my lecture videos in Statistics on a website. This is set-up as a self-study course for anyone to browse:
http://psychologyaustralia.homestead.com/index.htm
This has had some utility for some people; with approximately 5,600 + views of the YouTube videos. Statistics on the web are always inflated by people who simply click once and quickly move on - never to return again. However, other statistics suggest that 200+ people are watch 5 or more videos, so there clearly is a core audience for this resource.
The video are a bit rough with poor sound and grainy video. Nevertheless, only a little bit of effort (a small bet) made this available to anyone. It has since given me some ideas about how to refine this effort, and make other instructional videos with a wider appeal (and hopefully better sound!)
Just like this blog: making content available in a somewhat "raw" form without a lot of investment allows some ability to judge ideas to see if a larger investment is warranted. As the Sims book suggests, it also keeps your ego from being too invested in ideas that might not have a great payoff if pursued in earnest. Being effective at time management requires that you should not invest without a payoff. Of course, if the cost of failure is very low - by virtue of a little bet - then not much is lost, and experience is gained about what works and what doesn't.
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