I've blogged before about the plight of maintenance. I learned with ASCS automation that building new systems means increasing the burden of maintenance and decreasing the time and people available to do more good things. I've applied that learning to other things.
One is infrastructure--we don't maintain our roads and bridges as we should. Another is pipelines, as described here.
People like new ideas, new things. Someone has a bright idea and others join in the applause. This often results in new legislation or whatever. The people who originated the idea/legislation/proposal move on and eventually die. Their replacements, even those with nominal responsibility for maintenance, have no pride of authorship, no emotional commitment to the project, so devote their attention and time to other efforts.
For proof of my thesis, compare the state of the pots and pans in your kitchen after years of use with what they looked like on the day of your wedding, when you received them.
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