Charlie Tarr

June 1, 2025

Keep it brief. Get it done.

This article is going to be short, sharp and to the point. 

When it comes to "thinking vs doing", I favour deep thought, followed by focussed action.

I find that writing is the best way to clarify and sharpen my thinking. No hiding place. 

When it comes to reasoning about tech problems, I love the Shape Up methodology, as conceived and championed by the Basecamp team. 

The key to converting effective thinking into focussed action, which produces meaningful results, is to keep it brief and simple. 

No point having a great idea, if it's lost on the people, whose buy-in you need to secure. 

No matter how complex your idea or solution, being able to convey the key points, in just a few words, is mission-critical. 

If in doubt, limit your headline explanation to 3 concise bullet points. 

If you can't do this, you don't understand the problem you're trying to solve.

Key takeaway?

Keep it brief. Get it done.  

About Charlie Tarr

Hey! I’m Charlie, a hands-on CTO and Ruby on Rails engineer with more than a decade of experience building and scaling technology businesses.

I love writing code and blog posts, reading everything from business books and novels to The Economist, often while travelling the world as a digital nomad.

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