Parkinson’s Law: if you don’t set a limit on your available time, your work will expand to fill it all. - Josh Kaufman

Absence Blindness is a cognitive bias that prevents us from identifying what we can’t observe. Our perceptual faculties evolved to detect objects that are present in the Environment. It’s far more difficult for people to notice or identify what’s missing. Examples of Absence Blindness are everywhere. Here’s a common example: great Management is boring — and often unrewarding. The hallmark of an effective manager is anticipating likely issues and resolving them in advance, before they become a problem. Some of the best managers in the world exhibit a quiet sort of competence: there’s little drama, and everything gets done on time and under budget. The problem is, no one sees all of the bad things that the great manager prevents. Less skilled managers are more likely to be rewarded, since everyone can see them “making things happen” and “moving heaven and earth” to resolve issues — issues they may have created themselves via poor Management.

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. — WARREN BUFFETT,

Garvin’s eight factors in terms of questions: Performance — how well does it serve the intended purpose? Features — how many useful or valuable benefits does it offer? Reliability — what is the probability it will break, malfunction, or fail when used? Conformance — how well does it meet established standards? Are defects common? Are acceptable replacements available if I need them? Durability — how long will it work? Serviceability — if something goes wrong, is it easy to fix? Aesthetics — is the subjective experience of using it pleasurable, attractive, or reassuring? Perception — does it have a good Reputation and deliver better results than anticipated, to avoid the Expectation Effect?