Irony

Sometimes Zen teachers will describe things as exactly there opposite, in a humorous way of course. And the description of something as its opposite is the use of irony. For example;

"how should you build systems?"

"By defining, in writing, exactly what is required, freezing it, insisting that the customer agrees to what is described without seeing it, give the written description to a large number of technicians who are not allow to talk to the customer, place in a large locked room and wait for two years, stirring occasionally with new technology."

By the way, I was not being serious you know!

As you may have realised, Irony can be very dangerous, and can be two edged. Are the IT gurus being ironic, is our current crisis in IT ('current' as in 'always') the punch line of a huge celestial joke?

Here's how it works. Say something outrageous; if your views are excepted then write a book, give a lecture tour, pack in work and raise chickens on a farm (we will come back to the chickens later but in a few years from now there will be a world shortage due to the requirements of parallel processors and culling from bird flu). If your views are not excepted then say you were being ironic ..... write a book ......etc.