4 ms·

If the poster is referring to the comic, the geotagging is the chair, the bird identification is the toilet, and the act of "moving" is the effort involved. An

If the poster is referring to the comic, the geotagging is the chair, the bird identification is the toilet, and the act of "moving" is the effort involved. An analogy that could more closely fit could be something like: You have a new kubernetes cluster and some servers running code. You're migrating some services over (moving rooms). If you have a simple webapp that has no persistent storage and is containerized, the move would be simple (like moving a chair between rooms). However, if you were to try to move a webapp with login info and databases, there's a lot more "plumbing" not apparent to an outsider that would take a lot more work.

osigurdson 2y ago
I think the analogy best captures "some things are easy, some things are hard". For instance, if I were the stakeholder and this analogy was used to convince me that moving a web app that uses a database is hard, I would still wonder what you really mean (and I have lots of experience with Kubernetes). Probably better just to say what is actually hard instead of reaching for an analogy unless you just want to get past the stakeholder's "BS firewall" easily so you can get back to work. If that is your goal, absolutely use any persuasion tactic at your disposal. However, this scenario has a massive bug: the non-technical stakeholder didn't delegate decision making to someone that they can trust.
- scottyah 2y ago
  The analogies shouldn't be needed at work for sure, but they work well for people who aren't industry and don't especially care. Eyes glaze over at anything beyond "database" but people know about moving toilets so they appreciate the analogy when you're at a family reunion or something.
  - osigurdson 2y ago
    Perhaps, but those people are the bug in this hypothetical. They should instead delegate decisions to someone who is competent. Obviously the real world is filled with bugs of this nature, but helpful to at least recognize where the problem stems from.

osigurdson 2y ago

I think the analogy best captures "some things are easy, some things are hard". For instance, if I were the stakeholder and this analogy was used to convince me that moving a web app that uses a database is hard, I would still wonder what you really mean (and I have lots of experience with Kubernetes). Probably better just to say what is actually hard instead of reaching for an analogy unless you just want to get past the stakeholder's "BS firewall" easily so you can get back to work. If that is your goal, absolutely use any persuasion tactic at your disposal. However, this scenario has a massive bug: the non-technical stakeholder didn't delegate decision making to someone that they can trust.

scottyah 2y ago
The analogies shouldn't be needed at work for sure, but they work well for people who aren't industry and don't especially care. Eyes glaze over at anything beyond "database" but people know about moving toilets so they appreciate the analogy when you're at a family reunion or something.
- osigurdson 2y ago
  Perhaps, but those people are the bug in this hypothetical. They should instead delegate decisions to someone who is competent. Obviously the real world is filled with bugs of this nature, but helpful to at least recognize where the problem stems from.