PN-001-001 - Leather on the Feet

Journal Entry

There’s a story I’ve remembered for years. I don’t know where I first heard it, and I’ve since learned that there are many different versions of it, but the lesson has always stayed with me.

The story goes something like this:

A king had extremely sensitive feet. Walking through the city caused him constant discomfort, so he gathered the smartest engineers and builders in the kingdom with a single command: pave every street in leather.

The engineers immediately got to work.

Some calculated how many hides would be needed. Others estimated the cost. Some searched for new ways to manufacture enough leather, while others concluded the project was simply impossible. Every solution focused on the king’s instruction rather than the problem itself.

Then one engineer approached the king with a different idea.

Instead of covering every street in leather, he suggested covering the soles of the king’s feet.

The streets didn’t need to change.

Only the interface between the king and the streets.

Whether the story is historically true doesn’t really matter. What matters is the way it changes how I think.

Whenever I’m given a project or presented with a problem, I try to remember that engineer. It’s easy to become trapped by the wording of a request or by assumptions that have quietly become accepted as fact. We inherit constraints without ever asking whether they’re real.

The best solution isn’t always an improvement to the existing approach.

Sometimes it’s stepping back far enough to realize you’ve been solving the wrong problem.

I don’t always succeed, but it’s a mindset I try to carry into everything I build - whether it’s designing software, making something in the workshop, or simply organizing a project. Rather than asking, “How do I do this?” I try to ask, “What problem am I actually trying to solve?”

Often, those are two very different questions.

Take Away

The best engineers don’t just solve problems - they identify and redefine them.