This week, I’ve learned that something that might seem simple on the surface can actually be a mess on the inside. As a first example, let me look at scheduling. From a computer science perspective, my first thought is to attempt to automate the entire process, but then I run into a problem. I have no idea what my script (a program that takes some inputs and makes outputs based entirely on the input without user intervention) is doing and who is assigned where, besides the end result. Furthermore the time I spend on making such a script might look like this web comic:

Source: https://xkcd.com/1319/

Essentially, the lesson learned here is that after a certain amount of time, I need to see how much I’ve progressed and ask myself if it was worth it. Granted, this is a lesson learned in a hypothetical context, therefore I do not know how far it extends.

Additionally, from all my experiences in TLT and working with people higher up in the hierarchy than myself, I’ve learned that making recommendations in service industries to the manager is often not a bad idea. I was recently able to give this confidence and push to some friends that wanted to make a statement about tea on campus, and they got immediate results by speaking up. I feel empowered that I’ve learned this from TLT, as opposed to my previous habit of ignoring the problem.