#6 Don't Start What You Can't Finish
🥨 Snack #6: The universal law of resource management (learned the hard way)
Category: Workplace Humor
The Moment of Realization
We’ve all been there. That precise moment when you discover you’ve committed to something without checking if you have what you need to complete it. The empty toilet paper roll is just the most... immediate example.
Ever been in this situation?
The Pattern Everywhere
In the bathroom: You need toilet paper. You don’t have toilet paper. You’re committed.
In software: You need API access. You don’t have API keys. Sprint started yesterday.
In business: You need budget for Q2. Finance says no. Team already hired.
In architecture: You need database migration path. No one documented the schema. Deployment is Friday.
The Universal Law - “Don’t start what you can’t finish!”
Sounds obvious. Yet we do it constantly:
Starting sprints without clarifying requirements
Beginning deployments without testing environments
Launching features without capacity planning
Hiring teams without runway for year 2
Building products without market validation
Committing to deadlines without resource allocation
And yes, sitting down without checking the toilet paper situation.
The Lack of Toilet Paper in Tech
Starting a migration without:
Rollback plan
Database backup
Downtime window
Team on standby
Starting a feature without:
API documentation
Server capacity
Testing environment
User research
Starting a project without:
Clear requirements
Resource allocation
Success metrics
Exit strategy
The CEO One-Liner
“Prerequisites > Promises”
You can promise anything. But without the prerequisites in place, you’re just... well, you’re in the bathroom without toilet paper.
The Emergency Workarounds
When you’re already committed and discover missing resources:
Bad options:
Improvise poorly (tissues, napkins, newspapers)
Panic (doesn’t help)
Blame others (still stuck)
Give up (really?)
Better option:
Pause and acquire resources (even if embarrassing)
Best option:
Check BEFORE you start (boring but effective)
The Checklist Culture
Google’s Site Reliability Engineering uses checklists for everything. Pilots use pre-flight checklists. Surgeons use pre-surgery checklists. Maybe we should use pre-bathroom checklists? 🤔
Pre-Deployment Checklist:
All dependencies available?
Rollback plan ready?
Team on standby?
Monitoring in place?
Toilet paper checked?
Okay, maybe not that last one. But you get the idea.
My Reflection
I learned this lesson the hard way. Multiple times.
Started a refactoring project without buy-in from the team (failed)
Committed to a deadline without checking team capacity (disaster)
Began a migration without a rollback plan (nightmare)
And yes, I’ve also been in that bathroom situation.
The empty roll is a perfect metaphor because:
It’s universal (everyone relates)
It’s immediate (no time to fix)
It’s avoidable (just check first)
It’s embarrassing (which makes us remember)
The Takeaway
Don’t start what you can’t finish.
It’s that simple - check your resources, then commit! Not the other way around.
Cheers!
Miro - The Tech Metaphorist
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