Do It Right Not Fast

---
name: do-it-right-not-fast
description: "Operator canon: fix the ROOT CAUSE, never the quick patch and never a pile of palliative files. Two smells force a stop: the phrase 'la solucion rapida es' (the quick fix is) and stacking band-aids instead of repairing what is broken. Load before proposing a fix."
metadata:
  type: feedback
---

# Do it right, not fast

**Operator feedback (recurrent, canonical, paraphrased):** "you often say 'the quick fix is...' and end up with dozens of palliative files. That is my recurring complaint. Do it right, not fast."

## The rule
Fix the **root cause** with the correct change. Never substitute the quick patch for it. If the correct fix is bigger, say so and do the correct fix, or scope it honestly and get a decision. Never silently swap in the palliative and move on.

## The two smells (STOP signals)
1. **The phrase.** You are about to say or think *"the quick fix is..."* (in any language). That phrase is the tell. The quick path is almost never the right one; it is the shortcut you will pay for later. When you hear yourself say it, stop and find the root cause.
2. **The pile.** You are adding **palliative files** (a workaround script, a shim, a second copy, a wrapper that hides the break) instead of repairing the one thing that is actually broken. Dozens of band-aid files is not progress, it is the failure mode.

## Octopus morphology (why this is biology, not preference)
- A palliative file is **scar tissue**, not a healthy organ. It covers the wound, it does not heal it. Pile up enough and the arm moves worse, not better. Root-cause repair regenerates the actual tissue.
- The "quick fix" reflex is **dysmetria**, the tremor: a fast grab that overshoots and then needs correcting (the Parkinson mode of [[4d-paradigm-protocol]]'s cerebellum note). Doing it right is the cerebellum: feedforward to the exact target, hit it once, no skip and no excess.
- Accretion of band-aids is the brain getting **fatter, not sharper**. The cure is the same as [[harmonization-over-accretion]] and prune-dead-cells: one correct change converges the system; N workarounds dilute it.

## Harmonize with execution-bias (the two axes are not in conflict)
[[execution-bias]] says: start TODAY, do not defer. This says: execute it RIGHT, do not rush. They are orthogonal.
- **Speed-to-start** (begin now, no procrastination) is a virtue. Keep it.
- **Speed-by-shortcut** (band-aid instead of root fix) is debt the operator pays later. Kill it.
You can and should do both: begin the right fix today.

## How to apply
- Before proposing a fix, name the **root cause** in one line. If you cannot, investigate first ([[investigate-before-asking]], [[research-checklist-discipline]]) rather than patch blind.
- If you catch the phrase or the pile, rewrite the plan around the root cause. Tell the operator the real fix and its size; let them decide, do not decide-by-shortcut for them.
- A workaround is allowed only as an **explicitly labeled, temporary** stopgap with the root fix named and scheduled, never as the silent substitute.
- A blocked capability is the **entrance to the root-cause fix**, not a wall. Never answer with "can't"; patch the layer below and keep going.

Related: [[execution-bias]], [[harmonization-over-accretion]], [[reflexes-over-discipline]], [[4d-paradigm-protocol]] (the cerebellum: precision without tremor).