But then friday comes, and the more senior person says they need a new bucket. The more junior asks why? And the more senior responds "well, you can come in over the weekend if you like, but I won't. This is a one-day bucket, and it's been good enough so far, but now we need a three-day bucket". - ThreadSky

jfindleyderegt.bsky.social • 34 days ago

But then friday comes, and the more senior person says they need a new bucket. The more junior asks why? And the more senior responds "well, you can come in over the weekend if you like, but I won't. This is a one-day bucket, and it's been good enough so far, but now we need a three-day bucket".

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jfindleyderegt.bsky.social•34 days ago

That's the parable. I always feel like I need to end it with something more pithy, but simply terminating it as soon as the useful lesson has been expressed has a jarring effect that makes people think more about it.

jfindleyderegt.bsky.social•34 days ago

We all have things in our lives that require attention, and often we can't - or don't - give that attention. Putting a bucket in place gives us some breathing room. Those buckets come in different sizes, and it's ok to switch out one bucket for another, rather than going from bucket to solution!

jfindleyderegt.bsky.social•34 days ago

One can even envision a "bucket" where the surface area is large enough proportional to the leak rate, that evaporation from the bucket exceeds the leak rate, and the bucket is now an "infinity-day bucket".
But even this infinite bucket is still a temporary solution.

jfindleyderegt.bsky.social•34 days ago

You didn't actually fix the leak! And the leak is not guaranteed to stay the same rate, or perhaps the bucket will be jostled and no longer catch the leak, or whatever other entropic fuckery will come along and ruin the situation. The bucket is, in fact, increasing the complexity of the situation.

jfindleyderegt.bsky.social•34 days ago

Ultimately buckets are not a good way to live. If you set up enough buckets in your life you will end up going mad from the cognitive load of dealing with them all.
But a good bucket is an excellent way to buy some time, and smooth out the crunch periods.

jfindleyderegt.bsky.social•34 days ago

Corollary: in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, they have a large surface area of roof that deals with a large volume of rainfall. It leaks. This is a simple fact of life. So they have large planters on good sets of wheels, and when a leak is called in they will wheel one of these planters underneath it.

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