When I worked in software development, we had a name for things we did to fix an urgent problem – the sticking plasters, kludges and workarounds we produced to get a user through the issue and out the other side. We called them ‘quick and dirty’ solutions.

That was a bit judgemental of us.

Because the users didn’t really care how dirty the fix was, they just cared that it was fixed. And as far as they were concerned, it was. They didn’t see the long-term damage done by wearing a sticking plaster forever. So often, these workarounds became permanent.

It would have been far better to call them ‘quick and temporary’. Because that would have made it clear that they needed to be replaced almost as soon as they’d been applied.

This reframe isn’t just for software.

How many sticking plasters is your business wearing right now?

Do you even know?