Principlev1
Measure where the system actually breaks down before
Measure where the system actually breaks down before allocating optimization effort—optimizing components that account for a small fraction of total constraint yields negligible improvement regardless of optimization quality.
Why This Is a Principle
This applies Amdahl's Law thinking using axioms about biased task duration memory (Human memory of task duration is systematically biased and) and goals as filters (Goals as Perceptual Filters). Without measurement, your intuition about where time is spent is systematically wrong. The principle prescribes measurement-first to overcome this.
Source Lessons
L-0579
Premature optimization wastes resources
Optimizing before you understand the system is the root of much wasted effort.
L-0569
Speed optimization
Making an agent faster means it can serve you more often with less friction.
L-0562
Optimize the bottleneck first
Improving anything other than the bottleneck is wasted effort.
Connections
Derived From (6)
AxiomDirected Attention as Depletable ResourceAxiomGoals as Perceptual FiltersAxiomHuman attentional systems evolved to prioritize signals withAxiomHuman memory of task duration is systematically biased andAxiomThe behavior of a system arises from its structure, not fromAxiomEvery system is perfectly designed to get the results it