I learned that it was wrong to casually point a firearm at someone before I had the experience of firing a gun. I also first learned to direct my visual focus to the front sights. Knowing that rule enabled me to then gain more nuanced skill and helped me avoid building bad habits.

After 8 years in the software industry, I dearly wish that I’d been able to find such guidance about software estimation when I was starting out. At this point, I’m going to need some sort of therapy to be able to give software estimates.