Chekhov’s Gun: If you show a gun, fire it

The author says he tends to suggest things that are ahead of current circumstances, while his co-founder brings the discussion back to first principles. That tension appears in their product planning for Valinor Earth, where the author wanted to demo tools that were not ready and the co-founder warned that this could raise expectations they could not satisfy.

The post then applies Chekhov’s Gun to product work. If a tool is shown, it should be ready to be used and should solve something the customer actually needs, otherwise it becomes a promise the team does not intend to keep.

Reading notes

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• The author describes himself as enthusiastic and as someone who often proposes ideas before the right time, while the co-founder brings him back to first principles.
• In the discussion about Valinor Earth’s product, the author wanted to demonstrate tools that were not ready yet.
• The co-founder warns that showing something too early can create expectations that are hard to fulfill later.
• The text says that customer praise for tools, by itself, is not very useful for evaluating whether they solve the problem.
• The central idea is that, if a feature is shown, it should be usable and must be relevant to the customer’s need.
• Chekhov’s principle is presented as the rule that every element in a story must be necessary and should not create false promises.
• The text also reminds us that, if a rifle appears in the story, it needs to fire later; otherwise, it should not be there.