Congress tried this...and we got the sequester.
The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
41–50 of 141 posts
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#42Of course, there is the risk that everyone thinks McDonalds is a swell idea, and then no one will ever do anything nicer for lunch ever again. Not to stretch the analogy too far, but I have had this happen both literally and figuratively.
As the guys who usual says "that's a swell idea", or "yeah, I'm down for some McNuggets" to really gross food decisions (masochism, I don't know), I personally love it when other folks throw out these "sequestration" choices because it's usually the only way to get everyone to go to McDonalds.
I actually could go for some McNuggets right now.
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#43I happen to like McDonald's every once in a while.
There are a few items on the menu specifically aimed at adults who would be otherwise reluctant to bring their children.
Children do love their happy meals though. There wouldn't be a plethora of these fast food places all over the world if the vast majority of people didn't like McDonald's. It isn't healthy to eat at everyday, but every once in a while is fine.
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#44My coworkers used to call these "straw horses". Like straw men, but attacking them is supposed to take you somewhere.
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#45I use a technique like this when I am stuck trying to write code and can't figure out how to do it efficiently. I ask myself "what is the worst possible way to implement this function?" and start writing that. Sure enough, that gets my mind going almost immediately and I start thinking of the improvements needed to turn it into good code.
This is what's really happening with the McDonald's theory- it's a resetting of expectations by asking a different question. We can't ever figure out lunch because we're thinking "What would I really like to eat today?" and too often the answer is nothing. But if the question is, "What is better than McDonalds?" you might have some ideas. Even if you like McDonalds, this question is more concrete and answerable.
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
The use of McDonalds as idiomatic low quality trash is questionable too, I've found McDonalds in Australia and New Zealand is significantly higher quality than in the US. While it's still not a luxury brand by any means the restaurants do have a much more sophisticated atmosphere.
I suspect there's a fairly high variance within the US, too. I've never had a crappy McDonald's food, but I'm usually in an upper middle class suburb or downtown Seattle when I go.
I'm from BC and have had mcdonalds from downtown/suburb seattle* and it is pretty different, definitely not as high quality imho and a different taste too.
Strangely having mcdonalds in eastern europe was more like canada then the US.
*last time was a few years ago
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#47Of course, there is the risk that everyone thinks McDonalds is a swell idea, and then no one will ever do anything nicer for lunch ever again. Not to stretch the analogy too far, but I have had this happen both literally and figuratively.
If everybody (but you, presumably) is happy with McDonald's then the onus is on you to change their minds. The trick only works when there is a consensus to strive higher. If you fail to do that, then, eventually, you will have to say "screw you guys, I'll go to the ramen-place alone then".
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do this too, except I call it a "rope bridge". Write the simplest thing possible, even if it doesn't do everything you need, and then start iterating. The rope bridge will quickly become much more solid. The danger is that you leave the solution at too early a stage, and other things start relying on your flimsy rope bridge. It gets really difficult to go back and do things better.
That's test driven development sans the testing. You should try test driven development :)
Interesting how TDD is so close to TTD.
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#49I use a technique like this when I am stuck trying to write code and can't figure out how to do it efficiently. I ask myself "what is the worst possible way to implement this function?" and start writing that. Sure enough, that gets my mind going almost immediately and I start thinking of the improvements needed to turn it into good code.
TDD?
Test driven development.
As opposed to TTD, which is test to destruction.
Or DDT, which is development driven testing.
Or DMD, which is don't mean diddly.
Re: The McDonald's Theory of Bad Ideas
#50Related hack: When you can't make progress and choose between two comparable options, Dan Ariely (behavioral economist) recommends you flip a coin. As you flip it, the impact of a potential decision might prompt you to realize the outcome you truly want. However, there is a caveat: "The coin trick is indeed only useful for cases where the two options are of the same type (two cameras, two movies, etc). In your exampl…
Piet Hein wrote a grook about this. It essentially says "don't look at what the coin flip says; look at how you feel about the result of the flip."