Measure Twice, Optimize Once
”Measure twice, cut once”
- Carpentry Proverb, unknown origin
An evergreen quote that’s a common foundation of engineering principles, “measure twice, cut once” highlights the importance of measurement and empirical study in the process of building. While the “cut” step is the more tangibly relevant step, it’s useless or even destructive without information discovered (the first time) and then reinforced (the second time) in the “measure” step.
I find that “measure twice, optimize once” is a more accurate phrase to hold true in engineering disciplines, as measurement of a system’s current performance is essential for the betterment of its future performance.