Why “it doesn’t work” is dangerous

“It doesn’t work” is a dangerous phrase.

It’s almost always untrue.

People use it as code for any number of other ideas.

A couple of types of “doesn’t work” –

1. Results didn’t occur quickly enough (so we stopped before they appeared).
2. We don’t really understand the task (so we didn’t get results)
3. It’s inefficient (it works, but costs more than we get out of it)
4. No one else has got it to work (yet)
5. Defies physics (can’t work under any circumstances)

History is littered with people who were unsuccessful because they mis-read the “doesn’t work” they were dealing with.

Recognising which “doesn’t work” you’re dealing with gives you options – but only if you recognise which one it is.

Author: Karl Melrose

Thinker about how to think about information governance, economics, security, risk, technology and incentives. Out to solve every optimising problem, out to make sure my thinking gets better, every day. Information Governance, Management and Records Management at informationgovernance.blog. Random thoughts at karlmelrose.blog View all posts by Karl Melrose