Principle Stash

Comic

Three panels show the same robot agent wearing curly blonde Goldilocks hair. Under “Too primitive”, it holds a stick beside scattered parts and a plan for building a hammer, saying “First, I’ll build the tools.” Under “Too much”, it raises its hands from a mountain of tools, cables, folders and documents, asking “Which tool? Which document?” Under “Just right”, it finishes a small wheeled machine at an organized workbench. The tall, mustachioed P mascot stands behind the table holding a checklist, its legs hidden; the robot says “Done.”

Goldilocks Context

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Panel two is my setup from March, minus the hair.

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Appears in Where Does Software Engineering Go From Here? (Part 1)

Transcript

The robot wears curly blonde Goldilocks hair in all three panels.

Panel 1 — TOO PRIMITIVE. A robot holds a stick beside scattered raw parts and a multi-step plan for building a hammer. “First, I’ll build the tools.”

Panel 2 — TOO MUCH. The robot is buried in tools, cables, folders and documents, its hands raised in confusion. “Which tool? Which document?”

Panel 3 — JUST RIGHT. The same robot finishes a small wheeled machine at a tidy workbench with a compact tool kit and a task checklist. The tall, mustachioed P mascot stands behind the table holding another checklist, its lower body and legs hidden by the tabletop. “Done.”