These notes are derived from chapter 26 of Robert Pirsig’s Zen in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I’ve found the ideas of gumption to be very helpful while working on projects- both professional and personal. I’m sharing them here in the hope that others might also find the summary useful, but if you like what you see I’d highly recommend giving the original text a read.

Gumption is a term used to describe enthusiasm for your work. It’s the psychological gasoline that keeps you going.

Progress on a project is impossible without gumption, but when properly nurtured progress is impossible to avoid. The monitoring and preservation of gumption is the most important aspect of work.

Gumption traps

Gumption traps reduce your ability to work. They are classified in two types: setbacks and hang-ups. Setbacks describe external circumstances that can throw you off of your work- think of a manual having a missing step or accidentally stripping a screw while putting together some furniture. Hang-ups are forms of interference that come from within.

Setbacks

Examples:

• When you’ve gone far down a path of repairing your bike but realize that you’ve assembled things incorrectly part-way through. You need to disassemble and reassemble everything all over again.
• In software engineering: intermittant failures that are hard to replicate and diagnose.

A suggestion from the book is to keep a notebook logging every step in your diagnosis/debugging process. This helps you do things more quickly the second time around and helps maintain gumption. I’ve found this technique to be immensely helpful in diagnosing software issues.

Hang-ups

Hang-ups, the kinds of problems that come from within, can be sub-divided into a number of traps:

• Value traps are when you have rigid values, preventing you from seeing what may be wrong because it lies outside of your present range of thought.
  • Think: incorrect assumptions.
  • You need a technique for restoring your beginner’s mind.
• Ego traps happen when your ego prevents you from accepting facts that require you to admit that you’re wrong. You think too highly of yourself to admit that you’ve goofed.
  • A technique from the book is to pretend you’re not much good at the task at hand. Worst case your gumption gets a boost when the facts prove your assumptions are true.
• Anxiety traps are the opposite of ego traps. You’re so sure you’ll do everything wrong that you don’t even want to start.
  • Work out your anxieties on paper. Read books and magazines on the topic. The more you read the more you’ll reduce the uncertainty, allowing you to calm down and give things a shot.
  • “It’s peace of mind you’re after- not just a fixed machine.”
• Boredom traps can come alongside ego traps. You’re not seeing things freshly- you’ve lost your beginner’s mind. Boredom puts your project in great danger.
  • Stop! Go to a show. Turn on the TV. Call it a day. If you don’t step you’re suceptible to making a Big Mistake which can throw off your gumption entirely.
• Truth traps can happen when you think something has a yes or no answer, but in reality there’s a third answer: mu (yes or no).
  • This means you’re asking the wrong question- instead asking one which is too small for the truth of the real answer.
  • Answering mu to a question shouldn’t be seen as a gumption loss. Instead, it’s the realization that you’ve hit one of these traps and need to rethink your approach. This is progress that should be embraced, not dismayed!