vault backup: 2026-01-11 12:50:45

2026-01-11 12:50:45 -05:00
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 ## About Process Optimization

+### "It Takes an Engineer to Build a Bridge that Barely Stands"
+
+> [!quote] Unknown
+> Any idiot can build a bridge that stands.
+> It takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands.
+
+The phrase "exceeds specifications"
+ought not be universally perceived as positive when divorced from context like it is.
+
+It is often the case that exceeding minimum requirements is easy,
+and that the difficulty (the kind that you pay people to handle)
+is in meeting them precisely.
+
+In the case of civil infrastructure,
+it is intuitive that even though a 10% safety factor is _good_,
+a 100% safety factor is not _better_.
+It is _so_ intuitive that the choice of "_barely_ stands",
+I don't think would give many pause or reservation.
+
+However, divorced from context,
+people are biased to believe that more of a good thing must be better,
+especially when what's compromised isn't as tangible as dollars on an invoice.
+
 ### "Sharpen the Axe"

 Frequently misattributed to Abraham Lincoln is some variation of: