A Good Pre Cat 2 Nuke Facility Metaphor

I may have hit upon the perfect metaphor for what it’s like to work at the RWMC when we’re close to starting up a new facility. Behold, the Russian dolls:

Here’s how it works.

Engineer A brings in a new Document X that absolutely, positively, has to be done before the facility can open. That’s fine and dandy. But then Reviewer B or Reviewer C reminds Engineer A that, way back when, Document Y was revised to include the information that is being deleted from Document X. So, firestorm later, Document Y also needs to be revised.

When Document Y is revised, Reviewer C and Engineer B identify changes that need to be made. They are made. Then Reviewer D says, whoa, hoss, this has got to be changed now in Document C or we’re going to look like fools. So a revision to Document C is initiated.

And so it goes.

Sometimes – and this is when it’s the most frustrating – Engineer A comes back and says, you know that stuff we were deleting from Document X? Well, we’re putting it back in. But the genie is no longer in the bottle and can’t be recaptured.

And that’s okay. I don’t mind if things have to be revised to make things right. That keeps food on the table at home. Still, I know how those Russian dolls feel, nested one inside the other . . .