Editing 1428: Move Fast and Break Things

{{comic
| number    = 1428
| date      = October 1, 2014
| title     = Move Fast and Break Things
| image     = move_fast_and_break_things.png
| titletext = I was almost fired from a job driving the hearse in funeral processions, but then the funeral home realized how much business I was creating for them.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] appears to be at a job interview, proudly stating his motto to the interviewer [[Ponytail]]. "Move fast and break things" is a saying common in science and engineering industries. In that context, it means that making mistakes is a natural consequence of innovation in a highly competitive and complex environment. In particular, it was adopted by Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook (who even went as far as to say that [https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-2010-10 'breaking things' is a necessary feature of moving 'fast enough']).

While in software development it is unusual for any great harm to result from breaking things, the jobs listed in the comic are ones where there are serious consequences of mistakes. Some would result in dangerous or deadly situations, while others would just end up with broken packages etc. It's not clear what job Cueball is interviewing for; one suspects it's probably one that belongs in the 'breaking things is bad' group. The results of moving fast and breaking things for the listed jobs might include:

*{{w|FedEx}} driver - Injured/killed pedestrians, collisions with other vehicles, broken & damaged packages
*Crane operator - Damage or destruction of load, dropping loads on people below, damage to crane
*Surgeon - Incorrect operations performed, removing wrong body parts, damaging expensive medical equipment, death of the patient, or in {{w|Robert_Liston#Liston's_most_famous_case|extreme cases}}, the death of assistants and spectators as well
*Air Traffic Controller - Air collisions, travel disruption, chaos
*Pharmacist - Handing out wrong drugs, resulting in illness or death, or destroying them
*Museum Curator - Damage or destruction of items of historical or artistic significance, damage to the museum
*Waiter - Crockery broken, drinks or food spilled on customers, food tipped over people
*Dog Walker - Injuring the pet, or preventing it from fulfilling its bodily functions (the major reason for a walk)
*Oil Tanker Captain - Collisions between vessels, or tanker and port, or running aground, leading to oil spills and casualties
*Violinist - Ruining an ensemble's performance by playing too fast (with a higher tempo than fellow musicians), breaking the strings or body of the instrument
*Mars Rover Driver - Breaking an incredibly important vehicle, preventing further exploration, and ruining an extremely expensive mission
*Massage Therapist - Injuring the client, breaking bones and ligaments. Possibly also breaking the seat the client is on, leading to even more costly damages.

The title text posits a morbid scenario where Cueball keeps running over funeral attendees, generating the need for more funerals.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits in a chair, leaning back with his arm resting on the back of the chair during a job interview. Ponytail is sitting in a chair behind her desk which is between them.]
:Cueball: My motto is "Move fast and break things."
:[Below the panel follows a list:]
:'''Jobs I've been'''
:'''<u>fired from</u>'''
:Fedex driver
:Crane operator
:Surgeon
:Air traffic controller
:Pharmacist
:Museum curator
:Waiter
:Dog walker
:Oil tanker captain
:Violinist
:Mars rover driver
:Massage therapist

==Trivia==
This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20211215032205/https://store.xkcd.com/products/move-fast-and-break-things available as a mug] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]