D. Scott Williamson
6 HN mentions · mentioned in 6 months, 2015–2026
1:09 · 1.2M views · May 6, 2014
A one-minute response video to the viral 'The Expert' sketch. It shows how to draw seven perpendicular red lines, some in green ink, some in transparent ink, one shaped like a kitten.
Posted as a joke whenever threads discuss impossible or contradictory specifications and clients, to show a clever solution exists.
6 comments from Hacker News
> somebody said that a thing is simply not possible and a manager asked "but what if it was possible?" I've been an Individual Contributor, and a Manager, and am back to being an IC. I've been on both sides of this conversation. One of the benefits of being a manager is being able to see the forest from the trees while your team members may be so focused on their tasks they do not see the big picture. Sure, sometimes the answer to "but what if it was possible?" if just "it's not." But a lot of times, the good managers I've had would propose an approach to MAKING it possible that I just simply didn't see. And I've been able to do the same in their shoes. Sometimes it requires a paradigm shift - Q: "How do we get to the other town faster?" A: "The horses are running as fast as they can" Q: "What if we found a faster horse?" (e.g. a car) But honestly in day to day office culture it rarely needs to be so revolutionary - Q: "Could we finish the project faster if Bill's team helped us?" A: "No, it's not possible. Bill's team said they are completely swamped" <Goes off to do some managerial work> Q: "Okay, I've chatted to Bill, and his team is fully available to help us finish the project." I'll leave you with this "Expert" saying that something is simply not possible: [LINK] And an actual expert showing how it can be done: this video
Interestingly enough, someone made a response video: this video Although, to be sure, the response from management et al will almost definitely indicate that this isn't what they were looking for at all. [I know an electrical engineer who was part of a team that provided an engine control component to a customer and their response was that even though the component 100% meets all of the requirements they told them about it apparently didn't conform to the requirements that they were not told about (or perhaps that the customer was unaware of)]
Clients don't know what they want and don't know how to describe what they do want. That doesn't mean they're wrong. Actual experts get to the root of what they need, and find ways to solve the requirements, even when they seem impossible. Mandatory response viewing: this video
I don't think it's a great example, because with a little creativity that "impossible" spec is possible: this video The customers might even be happy with it, because it would mean they wouldn't have to admit their requirements were stupid.
That shows it knew this bit of satire more than anything. Also, the problem as stated isn't actually constrained enough to be unsolvable: this video