Wanaka tree syndrome
From a random Friday’s informal conversation: someone was excited about one or two particular design patterns that are popular now but have been around for decades, that makes me think maybe in the tech industry we are also prone to the “Wanaka tree syndrome”
That Wanaka tree was just a fence post near a lake, grew into a tree, someone took a photo then social media made it popular, to the extent that some people visit Wanaka only to take a photo of it! The “Wanaka tree syndrome” then is running that extra mile to do something just because it looks good somewhere else or because other people are doing so, even while for practical reasons there is nothing remarkable about it.
A key point, honestly: there is nothing remarkable about the tree itself, but still large crowds go early morning just to get a photo of it. Also in the area, there is another “instagramable” place: Roy’s peak, which’s about 4 hours uphill walk to have a photo of you, and only you and the lake.
Social media photos of the tree are in most cases taken with a technique called long exposure and/or during times early in the morning or close to sunset, sometimes using light filters to create beautiful effects. The reality of the photos, when taken without it and/or at any other random time is like the photos below. Expect long queues to have that single photo as well.
The point is: what sometimes is presented as an ideal does not always apply to real-life conditions!
To give an example, I recall some coworkers from a research & development department, really smart guys that loved to talk about design patterns and best practices to solve a problem. I was the black sheep in their team, using non-standard approaches and/or pragmatic ways to get things done. Then at some point back there, the group manager decided to create a tool for time tracking. I think he spent couple/several days working on that. For fun and as a challenge during lunchtime I build the same thing using a different technology, it just worked and it was fast and was easy to use. Email sent “Hey, check this demo” and wait. I recall watching the group manager fuming when realized his prototype was not even there (full of runtime errors) – can’t deny it was a fun little victory feeling.
On the other hand that was maybe not a big win as I don’t recall any single piece of remarkable code coming from them, just theoretical discussions.
Either way, what I’m trying to illustrate is that there are many ways to address a problem, focusing on just a few golden patterns or ways is a bad pattern.
What is worse is that in the effort to achieve that golden moment or perfect capture, things may never move out of theory. Sometimes the fear of failure is masked as some level of perfectionism. It hides behind phrases like “it needs to be perfect”, “it needs to support any database” or more on real-life cases “I will marry when I find the one (and only one) for me”, “I need to have a good job, a great home first” etc.
I guess what I’m trying to say with this is waiting for the perfect moment before doing anything may just lead to disappointment, even with all planning and resources, because of the unexpected. Who would have said that our perfect little routines would be challenged for months now?
So, we need to remember that “That Wanaka Tree” was just a fence post initially, it grew up to something else, and under daylight or normal conditions, there is nothing remarkable about it. The same thing happens with any tool, technique, approach, or rule – things change, it’s best to always focus on the big picture or real-life application rather than ideal or theoretical case scenarios.
The beauty of the tree, as displayed in social media, is achieved with long exposure and under specific light conditions. So there is little or no point in wanting to have the same photo without that. Stated otherwise perfection is not right here right now, but even unremarkable things can achieve a golden moment with work and time.
Do not get stuck trying to find the perfect way to solve a problem or the best time to make a move, challenges may be giving you a chance to try a fresh approach.
Be pragmatic, move out of your comfort zone if needed, don’t expect perfection before getting things rolling. If you do that, things will eventually fall into place.
