Exploration Through Example

Example-driven development, Agile testing, context-driven testing, Agile programming, Ruby, and other things of interest to Brian Marick

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Fri, 23 Sep 2005

Overcorrection

Long ago, I learned to fly gliders. Since they don't have engines, they're towed up into the air. So you spend the first minutes of your flight at the end of a long rope that's tethered to a tow plane. As a pilot, your job is to keep your glider in a good position relative to it.

As a novice pilot, I had a problem with "porpoising." I might drift up out of the right position, so I'd push the stick forward to descend, but I'd overcorrect so I'd descend too far, so I'd pull the stick back but this time get even higher out of position, so... Eventually, you can oscillate so badly that you become a danger to the towplane.

One time, my instructor gave me some advice. "Don't just do something, sit there," he said. Let your status stabilize and become clear before you correct. And, I extrapolate, make small corrections that stabilize faster so that you know more quickly what you've done.

I think of that slogan every once in a while.

## Posted at 09:45 in category /misc [permalink] [top]