The Right Tool Was a Cardboard Box
I almost didn’t make this episode because I was trying to make it too perfect.
The problem was not that I lacked equipment. I own four tripods. The problem was that I needed to record Episode 01, and all the equipment was packed somewhere in the middle of a move.
The smallest useful fix turned out to be an outdoor table, a toolbox, and a cardboard box.
In this episode:
- Why naming the problem matters before choosing a tool
- How chasing the perfect setup can become the problem
- Why the simplest working solution is sometimes the right one
Principle 01: Name the problem before picking the tool.
Less Miserable Tech is a podcast and field journal about real workflows: where they get stuck, what small fixes actually help, and how to make systems fit the people doing the work.
Website: https://lessmiserabletech.com
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I almost didn't make this video because, uh, I was trying to make it too perfect.
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And I said, "You know what?" I was talking with Milo, my agent, my, uh, AI
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agent, and he goes, "But episode one for Less Miserable Tech is about, you know,
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identifying the problem and not get caught up in the tools and the solving it."
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And what was funny is this turned out not to be my planned first episode, but
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literally, where am I gonna record it?
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Apparently, I need to do YouTube.
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I can't just give people information.
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I have to, you know, uh, somehow become an entertainer.
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And, uh, and I was just sitting out chatting with my agent, doing what
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I do sometimes late in the evening, little bit of bourbon, little cigar
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Just to, you know, relax in the evening, and then I suddenly
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realized, and it wasn't just me, it was Milo, my, my other agent, goes,
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"This looks like a good episode one.
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Why don't you stop trying to over-engineer it?" Uh, that's the whole point, right?
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Identify the problem, the friction that you're trying to solve, and then
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find the simplest way to do that.
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And why don't you make it less miserable?
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So here I am with a janky setup.
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I've got a funny old cardboard box up against a toolbox on a table
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pointed at me in the middle of the backyard with horrible lighting.
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It's backlit or whatever, and it's like, no.
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The point of this is, what's the problem?
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In this case, the problem was I needed to record my first episode,
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and I didn't know how to do that.
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Well, other than it's like, "Okay, do I sit at my desk? Do I have the
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headset on? Do I have some kind of background?" And it's like, no.
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Like we're-- I'm literally here having the conversation.
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The point of Less Miserable Tech is I've been doing this AI stuff for three years.
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I have been doing, uh, my own business for 23 years, software engineering
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and helping customers and small businesses, uh, do their, do their thing.
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And one of the things, you have to identify what is that problem?
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Well, the problem is I wasn't able to record a video
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'cause I was trying too much.
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I was trying to solve the tool.
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Even now, I was gonna try to find my tripods.
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I have four tripods.
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Couldn't find them, 'cause it's like I'm in the middle of moving,
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and they're in some box somewhere, and it's like, you know what?
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Forget trying to make it good or perfect.
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So my problem was need to record a video.
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I found a solution.
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It's done.
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Here we are, right?
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Episode 01.
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Whatever problem you have, identify what the problem is.
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Don't try to find the tool.
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Uh, don't try to-- Don't get access to a tool and then try to find the problem.
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Or say, "I need to use Claude or GPT somehow," and it's like, great.
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For what?
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"Oh, I don't know, but it's great." It's like, well, no, why don't you first figure
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out what it is you're trying to solve?
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And when you can-- And when you identify that, now you find the
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tool that is best to solve that.
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In this case, it was an outdoor table with a, uh, little toolbox and something
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just, uh, leaned up against it.
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That's it.
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That solved the problem.
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That made this first episode less miserable, and that's the
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point of Less Miserable Tech.
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Something simple, something, uh, uh, that solves a problem.
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That's what it's about.
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So this is also Principle 01: "identify the problem".
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Sometimes the problem is identifying the problem or, uh, uh, different ways,
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identifying the friction, so you know what exactly it is you're trying to solve.
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So here you are with the, with the first real, first real problem that I didn't
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even… I know, didn't even plan on doing.
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But cheers.
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Hope you all have a good evening.