1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6.The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you’re done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.
The Cult of Done Manifesto by Bre Pettis and Kio Stark
(via chrisglass)
Tina, I saw your tweet tonite about this and went to the site; then to you. i can’t believe how eloquent and perfect this is; I thanked you on twitter but had to do it here as well. I am brand spankin new at blogging and it’s a real stretch for me to be visible when I am not experienced; been doing interior design for a long time, but to try and connect that to this new venue is a challenge; one I have decided to take on.
I have read your blog before, although I haven’t stopped by for awhile so it is a treat on so many levels. have a great rest of your week and thanks again, jana
Mar 5th, 2009 / 12:52 am
I have been feeling overwhelmed with curiosity and utterly overloaded with information this week – this list helped bring me back to the present, the task at hand. I love it.
Mar 5th, 2009 / 1:21 am
I’m sorry, but the Cult of Done is seriously problematic.
The attitude of done is what created securities derivatives that threw the world into an economic abyss.
There is nothing wrong with getting hands dirty and moving forward in all kinds of work, but the compulsion to keep going when you don’t know what you are doing and to abandon work after a week’s gestation is a terrible way to work.
This is simply the manifesto of someone whose work doesn’t impact anyone but themselves. Take some of that “action” energy to think about what you are doing once in a while, trust me, it makes a difference. And another thing: To strive for perfection is something that often makes work worth doing.
Mar 5th, 2009 / 2:52 pm
yeah, this is a bit scary — definately not that on board with this manifesto. Is it me or are there more and more manifestos popping up the past month or so? haha
Mar 5th, 2009 / 11:08 pm
I think it’s brilliant! Not perfect, because, after all….
“Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.”
But still really inspirational. Thanks.
Mar 13th, 2009 / 12:22 am