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The author has come to the dark side. I’ve long advocated that paper cuts don’t matter. I don’t even think of fixing them unless it’s very cheap and safe to do

• crispyambulance 3y ago
  It's something that requires judgement and balance. We've all seen P.O.S. enterprise software products that take the "we-don't-care-about-paper-cuts" attitude to an absurd extreme. Everyone who has to use them uniformly hates them. I am looking at you Oracle, MF-er! The thing is paper cuts are everywhere, you're going to run into them, it's part of why you're paid to do what you do. The Chinese have a word for this. I think it's "Chabuduo", it's a kind of nonchalance about snags and imperfections in favor of getting stuff done. It works. To an extent. At some point, however, you have to get your shit together and address the snags that come up over and over again. If you don't it's a sign of not caring about the people doing the work and the people who have to use your product. There's another word that's the opposite of "Chabuduo". It's "mise-en-place" from the realm of cooking. It means having your space, tools, and ingredients (work materials) laid out, pre-measured, and ready to go. It's absolutely necessary, IMHO, for consistent quality work-- and not just in cooking. Knowing when to "Chaduduo" and when to "mise-en-place", I think, makes for the most productive work.