This editorial on Dungeons & Dragons & Networks talks about how the boundaries present in both network troubleshooting and the D&D play format promote creativity, while tasks with less boundaries are more difficult.

If people performed preventative maintenance and worked to improve their network, they’d have fewer problems to address in the first place. But because individual problems provide intellectual boundaries and present obstacles to overcome, it is simply a much, much easier task than trying to look at the vast possibilities inherent in the network and try to come up with a vision rather than a solution.

I think there is a lot of truth in that, especially since us IT types tend to be problem-solvers a little more than we are visionaries. I think management (and IT staff ourselves!) can benefit from recognizing initiatives that might be more successful when more properly bounded. I am guessing that many managers and project managers likely know this principle already, but it can definitely help us techs when we’re not being led very much in between fires. (Article found through WhiteDust)