3 ms·

> 37. (Henshaw's Law) One key to success in a mission is establishing clear lines of blame. I feel like this applies to a lot more than just spacecraft design.

by Veelox 8y ago

gvb 8y ago
I mentor a high school robotics team. Oh man does it apply to them! I like to run the laws past them at the start of every season. They still stumble over many of them. :-O The laws I stress: 14. (Edison's Law) "Better" is the enemy of "good". 40. (McBryan's Law) You can't make it better until you make it work. The law that they are really good at (especially in the middle of a competition): 34. (Roosevelt's Law of Task Planning) Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.
- geomark 8y ago
  I sure would like to know more about your mentoring of a robotics team. I sent you email.
slg 8y ago
That is true, but the phrasing is a little aggressive. Assigning "lines of blame" makes it sound like it is about having someone to point to after the fact. It is really about every part of a project having a single owner who is accountable so nothing slips through the cracks of bureaucracy. A way to rephrase that without the negative connotations of "blame" is "when everyone is responsible, no one is responsible."
- GlenTheMachine 8y ago
  Hi! I'm Henshaw, and I coined this law. Dave Akin was my lab director in grad school. You are correct in your analysis. Of course, the phrasing was meant to be a little aggressive, otherwise it isn't memorable.
  - slg 8y ago
    >Of course, the phrasing was meant to be a little aggressive, otherwise it isn't memorable. That is totally true and was something I missed. A law is of no value if no one remembers it. I bet we could even find one of Akin's laws to explain why that is the case. Side note, HN blows my mind sometimes in that I can make a comment on a term and within minutes the guy who coined the term is on here responding.

> 37. (Henshaw's Law) One key to success in a mission is establishing clear lines of blame. I feel like this applies to a lot more than just spacecraft design.

by Veelox 8y ago

> 37. (Henshaw's Law) One key to success in a mission is establishing clear lines of blame. I feel like this applies to a lot more than just spacecraft design.

gvb 8y ago

I mentor a high school robotics team. Oh man does it apply to them! I like to run the laws past them at the start of every season. They still stumble over many of them. :-O The laws I stress: 14. (Edison's Law) "Better" is the enemy of "good". 40. (McBryan's Law) You can't make it better until you make it work. The law that they are really good at (especially in the middle of a competition): 34. (Roosevelt's Law of Task Planning) Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.

geomark 8y ago
I sure would like to know more about your mentoring of a robotics team. I sent you email.

slg 8y ago

That is true, but the phrasing is a little aggressive. Assigning "lines of blame" makes it sound like it is about having someone to point to after the fact. It is really about every part of a project having a single owner who is accountable so nothing slips through the cracks of bureaucracy. A way to rephrase that without the negative connotations of "blame" is "when everyone is responsible, no one is responsible."

GlenTheMachine 8y ago
Hi! I'm Henshaw, and I coined this law. Dave Akin was my lab director in grad school. You are correct in your analysis. Of course, the phrasing was meant to be a little aggressive, otherwise it isn't memorable.
- slg 8y ago
  >Of course, the phrasing was meant to be a little aggressive, otherwise it isn't memorable. That is totally true and was something I missed. A law is of no value if no one remembers it. I bet we could even find one of Akin's laws to explain why that is the case. Side note, HN blows my mind sometimes in that I can make a comment on a term and within minutes the guy who coined the term is on here responding.