Growing CPATH Computer Poppies
Posted On Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at at 4/23/2008 11:58:00 AM by L SantoroGrowing Poppies – A Holistic Approach
I have been growing California Poppies in my yard for several seasons now. At first, I had less than total success. But I learned from this several year long process that it takes the presence of all the elements to have a successful poppy crop. It takes water, good soil, fertilizer, correct planting depth, sun, season, and lastly, lots of water. And all of these things are equally important. Omit one, and no poppies will grow. Get them all right, and poppies will grow like crazy.
I failed because I tended to focus on one thing, say water for example, and forget about all the others. I would complain when the poppies didn’t grow, and would sometimes find and latch onto some simple reason to justify my failure.
“These poppies don’t grow because they don’t have water! If they just had water, they would grow! Why can’t everybody else see that!?”
These complaints sometimes made me feel better, but usually they didn’t, and they certainly didn’t make the poppies grow.
So now we are trying to grow computer poppies here with CPATH. Let’s suppose that we come out with some awesome solution to some problem we are discussing. All the elements have to be there to ensure success. A simplistic solution to a problem can actually be the reason for its failure. I realized this lesson from watching poppy seeds being washed away as I stood there with a hose, overwatering.
And for computer poppies, each of these elements is provided by different stakeholders. This is why the community building aspect of this project is important. Because these stakeholders have to be aware of the contribution they are making and the important piece that that contribution provides. Otherwise, that element will be missing, and the poppies will die.
I have been growing California Poppies in my yard for several seasons now. At first, I had less than total success. But I learned from this several year long process that it takes the presence of all the elements to have a successful poppy crop. It takes water, good soil, fertilizer, correct planting depth, sun, season, and lastly, lots of water. And all of these things are equally important. Omit one, and no poppies will grow. Get them all right, and poppies will grow like crazy.
I failed because I tended to focus on one thing, say water for example, and forget about all the others. I would complain when the poppies didn’t grow, and would sometimes find and latch onto some simple reason to justify my failure.
“These poppies don’t grow because they don’t have water! If they just had water, they would grow! Why can’t everybody else see that!?”
These complaints sometimes made me feel better, but usually they didn’t, and they certainly didn’t make the poppies grow.
So now we are trying to grow computer poppies here with CPATH. Let’s suppose that we come out with some awesome solution to some problem we are discussing. All the elements have to be there to ensure success. A simplistic solution to a problem can actually be the reason for its failure. I realized this lesson from watching poppy seeds being washed away as I stood there with a hose, overwatering.
And for computer poppies, each of these elements is provided by different stakeholders. This is why the community building aspect of this project is important. Because these stakeholders have to be aware of the contribution they are making and the important piece that that contribution provides. Otherwise, that element will be missing, and the poppies will die.
Submitted by Dan Ross
