What Sleeping Rats, Robots, and Great Companies Have in Common

Mike Fisher is a software engineer and technology enthusiast known for his expertise in web development and programming languages. Readers can learn about coding best practices, software architecture patterns, and emerging technologies. With blog posts, tutorials, and technical analysis, Mike Fisher shares  insights and best practices for building modern and scalable software solutions.

Fish Food for Thought

Drawing on neuroscientist Mark Blumberg's research on sleeping rats whose twitches help the brain build a body map, this piece argues that organizations should adopt a similar 'twitch before you sprint' approach. Rather than committing fully to launches, reorgs, or strategies before understanding the system, companies should run small, low-stakes experiments first. This applies to product development (prototypes, feature flags, MVPs), organizational design (trial structures, time-boxed experiments), and strategy (small parallel bets instead of monolithic declarations). The core argument is that learning velocity — updating your mental model before full commitment — is a competitive advantage, and leaders who embrace uncertainty and disciplined exploration outperform those who mistake confidence for competence.

Twitching Before You Sprint