The First Pancake Always Sucks

As an adult, I am pretty competent. I am used to doing things well. But this is due to the fact that the things I do well are often something I've done many times. Or if not that thing, adjacent or similar to it. I remember talking to a child in my 20s. I was crushing aluminum cans and he was mystified by how good I was at it. He asked how I had gotten good and I had no explanation. Age has some virtues.

But this strength (that I'm good at many things) is a weakness when I encounter something outside of my wheelhouse. Because I'm relatively good at things, when I come upon something that I'm not good at, the first couple of times I do it I really suck. I have to commit to push through, and that takes effort and willpower that I could put toward something else.

For example, I have a guitar in my room right now that I played some last year. Never got to the point of chords, just single string picks. Could do a couple of songs and read simple music, but right now staring at that fills me with a bit of dread. Because I'm so bad at it (relative to other things).

Is it better to spend time honing skills you are already good at or exploring skills you aren't? (The old exploit or explore problem rears its head again.)

Maybe it's the same with your team members? Let them soak up the project a bit, and maybe their first contribution sucks a little less than if you didn't let them "heat up the pan"?

Does it mean the first pancake in the batch? I haven't ever noticed a problem. (Sometimes I do a full-pan mega-pancake where I only make one pancake.)

Or the first time someone tries making pancakes? But isn't that true of a lot of things you make the first time?

I assume the first, as in "Gotta get your sea legs" or Brooks' "Build one to throw away" (with the followup "second-system effect".)

... Oh, I'm an old fart. It's a phrase, like https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=first%20panc... from 10 years ago.

FWIW, follow the advice at https://www.quora.com/Why-do-you-have-to-throw-out-the-first... - make sure the pan is up to temp, don't use much grease (I use butter), and give the leavening time to act.

Agree with the sentiment of the article though. Getting hands dirty and having some small success can make a big difference for newcomers.