Notice that I am still calling what I am doing “idioms.” What I am describing are really patterns, even if they are small-scale patterns. I figured it was better to bring my audience along a bit, prove myself useful, and then spring the bigger idea of which this is all a part.

I wouldn't do this again. Better to just say what you mean, and if you lose some people, so be it. I have a real tendency to try to please everybody, so this approach kind of goes against the grain.

The tension between evolutionary and revolutionary change is something I struggle with constantly. On consulting gigs, it is always a temptation to just say, “Throw the bastards out,” to start fresh. Often this will produce the best results the quickest. However, it requires courage and a lack of ego to “toss out” hard work. On the other hand, I'm always worried that if I were a little smarter, I'd be able to deal with the situation as it is.

The column is a good example of a technique I learned from Dave Thomas that he calls “lie management.” You present an over-simplified but essentially correct view of the world, then you fix it. The engineer in me recoils at this—I will go to ridiculous lengths to understand things completely, and everyone must be like me, right?