My Agents Never Get Tired. I Do: On Satisficing
I approved a prompt on a Tuesday morning and went to make a cup of Irish breakfast tea. By the time I came back the block was done, tested, and more thorough than what I had asked for. I stood there with the mug and realized I had never decided whether that thoroughness belonged in that block. I had not really decided on the block either. Sixty-two public repositories since July 2025. Three…
The author's agents, named Kiro and Claude, never tire. Kiro writes the code and Claude reviews it, while the author remains engaged. They focus on speed, but recognize that setting up an ending or deciding what deserves a beginning is lacking. The author tags a folder as throwaway and ships a production-grade version, but over-engineers the process.
They find the reason in a sports article about Chris Borland's decision to quit the NFL at 24 due to concerns about brain damage. Satisficing, meaning a stop sign at the point of diminishing returns, is the concept they adopt. It involves setting a standard for what is good enough, taking the first thing that meets it, and moving on.
Simon's bounded rationality theory explains that humans have limited time, information, and attention, making optimal decisions unfeasible. Simon's three-step strategy for decision-making includes setting a standard, taking the first acceptable option, and moving on. The author applies this concept to their work, creating a rigor budget for each block.
They categorize blocks as spike, working, or full, with prohibitions instead of effort levels to keep work efficient and focused. The stop sign is now installed in the plan, not just in the author's willpower.
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