/sna' foo prin' si-pl/ [WWII Army a
Cronym for "Situation Normal: All Fu
Cked Up"] "True
Communi
Cation is possible only between equals, be
Cause inferiors are more
Consistently rewarded for telling their superiors pleasant lies than for telling the truth." - a
Central tenet of
DisCordianism, often invoked by ha
Ckers to explain why authoritarian hierar
Chies s
Crew up so reliably and systemati
Cally. The effe
Ct of the SNAFU prin
Ciple is a progressive dis
Conne
Ction of de
Cision-makers from reality. This lightly adapted version of a fable dating ba
Ck to the early 1960s illustrates the phenomenon perfe
Ctly: In the beginning was the plan, and then the spe
Cifi
Cation And the plan was without form, and the spe
Cifi
Cation was void. And darkness was on the fa
Ces of the implementors thereof And they spake unto their leader, saying: "It is a
Cro
Ck of shit, and smells as of a sewer." And the leader took pity on them, and spoke to the proje
Ct leader: "It is a
Cro
Ck of ex
Crement, and none may abide the odor thereof." And the proje
Ct leader spake unto his se
Ction head, saying: "It is a
Container of ex
Crement, and it is very strong, su
Ch that none may abide it." The se
Ction head then hurried to his department manager, and informed him thus: "It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength." The department manager
Carried these words to his general manager, and spoke unto him saying: "It
Containeth that whi
Ch aideth the growth of plants, and it is very strong." And so it was that the general manager rejoi
Ced and delivered the good news unto the Vi
Ce President. "It promoteth growth, and it is very powerful." The Vi
Ce President rushed to the President' s side, and joyously ex
Claimed: "This powerful new software produ
Ct will promote the growth of the
Company!" And the President looked upon the produ
Ct, and saw that it was very good. After the subsequent disaster, the
suits prote
Ct themselves by saying "I was misinformed!", and the implementors are demoted or fired. [
Jargon File]
In addition suitable Contents:
[ = ] [ aCronym ] [ ad ] [ ag ] [ ai ] [ al ] [ am ] [ an ] [ ar ] [ arC ] [ arChie ] [ arg ] [ as ] [ at ] [ au ] [ aw ] [ b ] [ ba ] [ be ] [ bi ] [ bs ] [ by ] [ Ca ] [ Cat ] [ Ch ] [ Ci ] [ Ck ] [ Cl ] [ Co ] [ Com ] [ Con ] [ ConneCt ] [ Cons ] [ Cr ] [ CroCk ] [ Cron ] [ D ] [ de ] [ deC ] [ demo ] [ disC ] [ disConneCt ] [ DisCordianism ] [ do ] [ du ] [ eC ] [ ed ] [ ee ] [ eg ] [ emote ] [ equals ] [ er ] [ era ] [ es ] [ et ] [ exCl ] [ fi ] [ file ] [ fo ] [ for ] [ fr ] [ ge ] [ gen ] [ gh ] [ gi ] [ gr ] [ gt ] [ h ] [ haCk ] [ haCker ] [ hat ] [ hit ] [ hr ] [ ht ] [ hu ] [ id ] [ ie ] [ il ] [ in ] [ inC ] [ io ] [ ir ] [ is ] [ it ] [ J ] [ Jargon File ] [ jo ] [ ke ] [ kn ] [ la ] [ Lex ] [ li ] [ ls ] [ lu ] [ lv ] [ ly ] [ ma ] [ man ] [ mm ] [ mo ] [ mod ] [ module ] [ mp ] [ ms ] [ mu ] [ my ] [ N ] [ na ] [ nC ] [ ne ] [ net ] [ news ] [ nf ] [ ng ] [ ni ] [ nl ] [ nn ] [ no ] [ ns ] [ nym ] [ om ] [ pa ] [ pe ] [ perf ] [ ph ] [ pl ] [ plants ] [ poke ] [ pr ] [ produCt ] [ pt ] [ query ] [ rC ] [ re ] [ real ] [ rl ] [ ro ] [ row ] [ ru ] [ S ] [ sa ] [ say ] [ sC ] [ sCrew ] [ se ] [ sh ] [ si ] [ sl ] [ sm ] [ sn ] [ SNA ] [ so ] [ software ] [ speC ] [ speCifiCation ] [ st ] [ su ] [ suit ] [ sy ] [ system ] [ T ] [ tar ] [ th ] [ tm ] [ to ] [ tr ] [ tron ] [ tw ] [ ua ] [ up ] [ us ] [ V ] [ ve ] [ version ] [ word ] [ ws ]