What the Planners say | What the Planners mean | What the Developer hears / understands |
“I like it.” | I like it. | They like it. |
“Well done!” | Well done! | We’re done! |
“I wish more projects had this feel.” | “I wish more projects had this feel.” | They like it so much maybe they’ll give us more. |
“Lets review this” | I don’t like it. | It’s taken their breath away! |
“Does this meet the regulations?” | Can we kill it through technicalities? | We’re OK, it meets the regulations...I think |
“Well...?” | We don’t like it, do we? | They have some minor questions. |
“What do you think?” | You don’t like it either, do you? | We’re in trouble, they’re thinking. |
“I have some concerns.” | I don’t like it. | Well, Planners are only one vote! |
“It’s... too...” | I don’t think I could ever like it. | Maybe we overdid the gargoyles. |
“Is the applicant here?” | Can we talk, or do we have to be diplomatic? | No! After spending all of this energy, to say nothing or a King’s ransom in fees, the applicant has decided to go to the racetrack where the odds are better. |
“Have you tried...?” | This doesn’t work. | There’s not enough in the budget to do it once, let alone twice. |
“Let’s look at the landscape plan.” | Maybe we can just hide it. | There goes the landscape budget! |
“That’s an...‘ interesting’ approach. | What planet did this come from? | They like it. |
“Lets get other staff involved.” | Maybe the other staff can tell you what we’ve been unable to communicate. | Who do they think got us into this mess? There goes another month. |
“It’s too...er...googie.” | There’s no way I can teach them what’s good design, so I’ll get technical. | He doesn’t like the gargoyles. |
“Yes, we’ve heard the argument that planners breed design mediocrity.” | We’d be happy if this was even mediocre. | They know we’re going to blame this “camel” on them. |