If something is almost right, it is less work to fix it than to throw it away and make something new. If it is enough to softly whisper 'wake up', there is no point in yelling. Taking the path of least effort is the principle of 'minimal response', and it enables us to help more people than if we created elaborate over-engineered systems for requests which could be solved in simpler ways that take significantly less time.

For instance, it may be less effort to seek changes from a supplier, but if the supplier resists this, we may make the effort in-house. Or if a client relationship is unprofitable, we first try to address the reason for the unprofitability, rather than immediately terminating the relationship.

In order to find the minimum response, we may make a small first attempt, and then gradually escalate the effort until the objective is achieved or until other priorities take precedence.

See also: proportionality