The technologist’s classic blunder

Engineering types like software developers are inspired by a sense of the possibilities inherent in building things.  This inspiration is forever leading them into a classic blunder that offers up hardship and regret—and an opportunity to learn a powerful lesson.

This blunder may be the single greatest source of failure and disappointment in the work of software engineers and other technical types.  Not long ago I rewatched the classic movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai and was amazed to see the mental error enacted by none other than Obi Wan Kenobi actor Alec Guinness.  In honor of this, I’ve taken to thinking of it as the Bridge on the River Kwai problem.

The error in question is the tendency to undertake technological efforts without their proper context, allowing them to become ends in themselves.

This seemingly innocuous proclivity is frightfully pernicious.  As you’ll see in a moment, it is harped on relentlessly by successful founders, who have learned the lesson through painful experience. 

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