definition

Verschlimmbesserung and Chesterton's Fence

The German word 'Verschlimmbesserung'—making something worse by trying to improve it—captures a frequent real-world phenomenon related to Chesterton's Fence: people don't know which parts of a large system encode important cultural or technical understanding versus which exist only because the system was built in a hurry.

definitionpending

Speaker

Tobi Lütke

Evidence Quote

by trying to improve something, you made it worse.

Source

Tobi LütkeConversations with Tyler
Created: 6/13/2026, 3:32:50 AM

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