Someone said that in theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.
As with all things in life, it’s important to strike a balance between theory and practice. However practice seems to have more importance because usually we learn by doing. Which is opposed to theory because pure theory involves no doing apart from itself.
Mick Fleetwood is a British musician and actor, best known for his role as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Fleetwood Mac, he says he knows so little about music theory, that even his colleagues consider him a child.
Just as the previous example many people I know were able to be great managers of computer networks with more practice than theory.
With the wide amount of information available these days, such as references, papers, etc. it is tempting to collect as much interesting information as necessary to better prepare for the tasks in hand. This can be very dangerous, as no matter how much theory you can gather, it will never replace hands-on experience. The world is full of information, it leads people to believe that complexity is a must.
Mental masturbation is fun and all, but when all is said and done, developing a culture of shipping is one of the most important things you can do. Those who can’t do, teach. History is written by the victors.
On occasion, you’ll run into someone who can actually explain complicated theory stuff to you in an accessible way. If you find someone like this, make sure to hold onto them closely, as they’re really rare. But they can help provide you with some insight that will really boost your productivity, without having to invest all the time in figuring out all that wankery that the priests of theory love.
