Start Before You're Ready

I do have a (small!) claim to fame in the history of the Internet. In 1991, when I was a software designer for a small company in Perth, we won a contract to build software for an optical fibre undersea cable system between Hong Kong and Taiwan.

As part of that project, I spent six weeks in Hong Kong doing the final installation and testing of our system. It was among the most challenging times in my work life (we regularly worked 17-hour days), but was also very rewarding.

At the time, the main purpose of the cable was for telephone calls. This was long before most people had heard of the Internet. And even though I was using the Internet myself, I had no idea how important it would become within a decade.

That seems like such a long time ago!

Today, we take it for granted that we can go to a Web site, click a little blue link on a page, and instantly jump to another Web site on the other side of the world.

In 1991 - when we were working with much more primitive technology - that was totally unheard of. It was a major achievement for us to just get a single dial-up telephone connection between the monitoring station in Hong Kong and our office in Perth!

And although I didn't know it at the time, our team of software developers was laying the foundations for the Internet technology we take for granted today. And it took an earthquake to emphasise just how important it is.

So what's the point?

So you don't think this is just me talking about how I single-handedly invented the Internet - I do have a point!

You see, I remember talking to the Hong Kong technicians at the time, and they were telling me about the next cable they would be installing in a few years' time. It would be faster, cheaper, more reliable - you name it. So ... even at the time they were laying that undersea cable, the technology was already superseded.

So why did we bother with our slower, more expensive, less reliable system?

Because if we had waited for the perfect time, with the perfect technology, we would never had started. And if everybody in the industry had taken that attitude, we wouldn't have any Internet at all!

And that's the point.

This happens OFTEN (and not just with technology).

Have you ever held back from doing something, waiting for the perfect moment? Sometimes it's prudent, but more often it's foolish. There's never a more perfect moment than NOW. Even if you don't get the results you expect, you get the experience.

So, start before you're ready. You'll thank yourself later - whatever the outcome.

As a sequel to my story, we did install our system, and it is still working today. More importantly, we won contracts for the more advanced systems as well, because of our proven track record.

Key words: productivity, leverage

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Gihan Perera is the author of "Get Active: Web Sites for Speakers, Trainers, Coaches and Consultants" and "Fast, Flat and Free: What You Need to Know to Stay Ahead in a Connected World". Visit http://GihanPerera.com and get your complimentary copies now.

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