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Discipline

Premise 1: Self-discipline is the only meaningful form of discipline.

Premise 2: Simpler solutions are usually preferable to more-complicated solutions to the same problem.

Premise 3: Without self-discipline on the part of those using it, no process model or method or framework or tool of any kind provides the value its proponents believe it can provide.

Premise 4: A formal process that imposes strict rules tends to teach people to follow rules rather than to cultivate self-discipline.

Premise 5: The longer and more deeply a person invests in a given idea or habit, the more difficult it becomes for that person to let go of the idea or habit, or even to question it.

Premise 6: In the diffusion of any innovation, the main reason Innovators and Early Adopters achieve better results than Late Adopters and Laggards is the former are predisposed to try unfamiliar things and take risks, and not primarily because the particular innovation is intrinsically better than whatever it replaces (even if it happens to be a little better on the merits).

Premise 7: The factor that makes an innovation useful is that it comes at a time when it is needed, in a context where it is needed, and to people who are in a position to make use of it; not necessarily that the innovation itself is “best” in a general or permanent sense.

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