I work in international trade (among other things), and Admiral Hewett's desire for "velvet" (that you mention in another comment) is gaining traction in the supply chain world right now as an alternative to both ever-more-efficient (and brittle) supply chains and autarky. It's "supply chain redundancy," actually, but "supply chain velvet" would make a better band name, no?
Anyway, while I hope more people begin to value slack in case things go wrong for reasons beyond the material needs of business, it can't hurt to have businesses start to recognize it. They are wired into the culture, after all.
Thanks, as always, for a thought-provoking read. I love the Craft Sequence. The stories are a reminder to us real-life craftspeople and risk managers and consultants that our jobs can be really cool--and that they carry both the awesome potential and responsibility to help build a more just world.
I’m fifty and have plenty of perplexities, but I spend less time marveling at them and just roll my eyes and put the effort toward figuring out what action improves the situation.
Love this post, and I love the meat analogy! In my talks on fighting propaganda, I have taken to adding an end slide, after I talk about all the difficulties with the problem and the horrible pitfalls of doing things wrong. It's about a philosophy of Listening and Tinkering instead of Moving Fast and Breaking Things. I think if more of our software architects, business leaders, professionals -- anyone and everyone in society -- could afford to Listen and Tinker, to get their knives ready before making the cut, we might make fewer mistakes as a society :)
I wonder if our lifespans are longer now than they were when that quote was first set. And what was 40 or 70 might now be 60 and 90… Anyway. This post almost made me cry. I like such thoughtfulness walking around the world.
I work in international trade (among other things), and Admiral Hewett's desire for "velvet" (that you mention in another comment) is gaining traction in the supply chain world right now as an alternative to both ever-more-efficient (and brittle) supply chains and autarky. It's "supply chain redundancy," actually, but "supply chain velvet" would make a better band name, no?
Anyway, while I hope more people begin to value slack in case things go wrong for reasons beyond the material needs of business, it can't hurt to have businesses start to recognize it. They are wired into the culture, after all.
Thanks, as always, for a thought-provoking read. I love the Craft Sequence. The stories are a reminder to us real-life craftspeople and risk managers and consultants that our jobs can be really cool--and that they carry both the awesome potential and responsibility to help build a more just world.
I’m fifty and have plenty of perplexities, but I spend less time marveling at them and just roll my eyes and put the effort toward figuring out what action improves the situation.
Love this post, and I love the meat analogy! In my talks on fighting propaganda, I have taken to adding an end slide, after I talk about all the difficulties with the problem and the horrible pitfalls of doing things wrong. It's about a philosophy of Listening and Tinkering instead of Moving Fast and Breaking Things. I think if more of our software architects, business leaders, professionals -- anyone and everyone in society -- could afford to Listen and Tinker, to get their knives ready before making the cut, we might make fewer mistakes as a society :)
I wonder if our lifespans are longer now than they were when that quote was first set. And what was 40 or 70 might now be 60 and 90… Anyway. This post almost made me cry. I like such thoughtfulness walking around the world.