🥪 What’s the Connection Between Software Development and an Alexandrian Liver Sandwich?
🥪 What’s the Connection Between Software Development and an Alexandrian Liver Sandwich?
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Let me tell you a story inspired by The Squirrel Burger Story with images generated by Google - Nano Banana
Meet Ibrahim
This is Ibrahim, a master of liver sandwiches 💪. He works at an Alexandrian liver sandwich shop in Bahary, and this is his story 🤷
The Simple Request
One late night, just as Ibrahim was about to close shop, an old man walked in. He looked poor, pulled out a few small coins from his pocket, and said to Ibrahim:
“I want a liver sandwich, and this is all I have.”
Ibrahim’s Dilemma
Ibrahim is a good man who wants to help the old man, but the coins weren’t enough for more than plain bread. At the same time, Ibrahim is honest and respects his boss — he can’t just give away stock for free.
The Destructive Trick
Ibrahim remembered there was a spoiled piece of liver in the fridge he was about to throw away. He smiled, took the man’s coins, and said: “Sure, uncle, I’ll make you what you want.”
Without the old man noticing, Ibrahim took the spoiled liver, chopped and seasoned it, cooked it, and stuffed it into a sandwich.
The Temporary Happiness
Ibrahim handed the man the sandwich. The man was delighted and said: “God bless you, son.”
Ibrahim felt happy — he managed to help, gave him a liver sandwich for the price of bread, and didn’t take anything from the shop’s supplies.
The Bitter Consequence
A few days later, the police stormed the shop to arrest Ibrahim.
Turns out, the old man ended up in the hospital with food poisoning after eating the sandwich — he almost died.
The Lesson 💡
Think about this: your manager 👨💼 asks you for a task 💻 you know will take at least 8 weeks 🗓️.
Even if you push yourself, you won’t finish in less than 6 weeks ⏳.
But then he says: “I need it done in 4 weeks.” ⚡
What will you do??? 🤔
You won’t write clean code 🧹, won’t do refactoring 🛠️, won’t check edge cases 🚧, and of course, won’t write tests 🧪‼️
Let me tell you 😏 … you just did exactly what Ibrahim did 👨🍳🥪 — you gave your manager a spoiled liver sandwich 🥪🤢
Do you know what happens next? 😮
One of two things:
- Either the system/app 💻💥 crashes because of all the spoiled sandwiches 🤯
- Or it passes to your manager 👨💼 and blows up in the faces of the company’s customers 👥😡
You and your manager both end up upset 😔
And the lesson is in The Phoenix Project 🐦🔥
The Practical Solution ✅
⚠️ As you saw: never compromise quality under pressure 🚫
If there’s pressure:
- ✅ Negotiate the scope 🗂️
- ✅ Break down requests 📝, prioritize 🔝, and deliver the most important first 🎯
Work with the Scrum framework 📊
Scrum ensures the team 👨💻👩💻 stays focused on a shared goal 🎯 for a fixed time ⏰
and that productivity improves over time 📈
Conclusion 📝
Be a pragmatic programmer 🧑💻
Learn more about pragmatism in programming here.
Check out these two stories:
- The Broken Windows 🪟💔
- The Boiled Frogs 🐸🍲
They highlight the importance of quality in software development 🏗️💡
🚫 And never serve a spoiled liver sandwich again 🥪🤢❌