Working Back and Forth

My graduate advisor, David Morgan, had a saying, “Work back and forth.” By that he meant that it’s wise to work on a project from multiple angles – pencil sketch, then build a 3D model, then go back to sketching, then revise in 3D.

When we are working on complex problems, being able to set up and do the work from multiple angles is a valuable skill. Last night I had a conversation with an old friend about a new project. We spent the first half of our conversation talking at a high level and asking big questions. But then we toggled and got into the weeds with some code review. The high level conversation informed the work in the weeds and that’s why it’s important to work back and forth. While it may sound counterintuitive, we achieve consistency when we work on problems from multiple angles.