Temporary Fixes
An externality is an impact (positive or negative) on any party not involved in a given economic transaction.
I talk about “externalities” a lot; humans excel at rationalizing short-sighted decisions if they believe that the long-term costs are external to themselves. This is usually an unconcious decision, but no less costly to a community.
Given a technical problem, many engineers will naturally gravitate towards the easiest fix possible. If this fix has long term cost implications, they may even call the fix “temporary”. However, if the cost of this temporary fix is externalized — not levied against the party making the decision — then the temporary fix will become permanent.
This approach to problem solving incurs a long-term organizational cost. Whereas an initial investment of a few hours may have provided a permanent fix, the temporary fix may result in emense aggregate cost over time.
If I ever find myself creating a “temporary fix”, I always try to ensure that I will be the one paying for any long-term costs. This provides additional perspective to my decision making, and encouragement to provide a better solution.
