This is an analogy relating to MentalStateCalledFlow, and to ListenToTheCode, CodeSmell, etc...

Flow is what a river ''does''.
But water and a channel is what a river ''is''.

What is it about what it is that makes it so good at what it does?

The channel ''guides'' the water.
The water ''shapes'' the channel.

You need to be like water flowing through the channel of your (software development/mainentance) work, being guided by it in your action, but ultimately shaping it through your action.

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The missing ingredient here is a source of ''energy''.

* Are you a stagnant pool going nowhere? 
* Are you a rushing chaotic torrent violently tossed about by your channel yet having little effect on it?
* Or are you a high pressure water jet cutting through the steel of your channel?

When is it appropriate to be what?

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CategoryMotivation CategoryMetaphor