2 ms·

I don't remember which volume it was from, but doing any general maintenance I always remember this suggestion of his: Work on the most neglected area first --

by a9h74j 5y ago

I don't remember which volume it was from, but doing any general maintenance I always remember this suggestion of his: Work on the most neglected area first -- e.g., work on the most neglected outdoor area of a property first. I don't recall his specific reasoning, but in my mind the essence was: Otherwise you will be acting on displacement anxiety and When an eyesore is taken care of first, your perspective on potential other improvements will change. RIP

crabmusket 5y ago
Maybe pattern 104, "site repair"? > If we always build on that part of the land which is most healthy, we can be virtually certain that a great deal of the land will always be less than healthy. If we want the land to be healthy all over - all of it - then we must do the opposite. We must treat every new act of building as an opportunity to mend some rent in the existing cloth; each act of building gives us the chance to make one of the ugliest and least healthy parts of the environment more healthy - as for those parts which are already healthy and beautiful - they of course need no attention. And in fact, we must discipline ourselves most strictly to leave them alone,so that our energy actually goes to the places which need it. This is the principle of site repair.
- a9h74j 5y ago
  Yes, that is almost certainly the origin and what I was thinking of -- a site and land context originally. As a heuristic (extending possibly to so-called technical debt?) I believe it generalizes. I am lately learning the delight of another pattern: Outdoor Workshop.
gjvc 5y ago
This is the most efficient way (IMHO) to raise the average quality of an installation / system, not to strive for a 1% improvement in the top end (while expending 10x the effort in doing so for said 1%, rather than the inverse). This is one of those rare delights; an approach which is as powerful as it is simple.

by a9h74j 5y ago

crabmusket 5y ago

Maybe pattern 104, "site repair"? > If we always build on that part of the land which is most healthy, we can be virtually certain that a great deal of the land will always be less than healthy. If we want the land to be healthy all over - all of it - then we must do the opposite. We must treat every new act of building as an opportunity to mend some rent in the existing cloth; each act of building gives us the chance to make one of the ugliest and least healthy parts of the environment more healthy - as for those parts which are already healthy and beautiful - they of course need no attention. And in fact, we must discipline ourselves most strictly to leave them alone,so that our energy actually goes to the places which need it. This is the principle of site repair.

a9h74j 5y ago
Yes, that is almost certainly the origin and what I was thinking of -- a site and land context originally. As a heuristic (extending possibly to so-called technical debt?) I believe it generalizes. I am lately learning the delight of another pattern: Outdoor Workshop.

gjvc 5y ago

This is the most efficient way (IMHO) to raise the average quality of an installation / system, not to strive for a 1% improvement in the top end (while expending 10x the effort in doing so for said 1%, rather than the inverse). This is one of those rare delights; an approach which is as powerful as it is simple.