Phrase for a small, legitimate fix for part of a system so broken the fix is unimportant [duplicate]

Question

Looking for a phrase/metaphor describing a situation where a proposed solution, though valid, is targeted for one of many problems in an entity plagued by so many problems as to render the individual solution unimportant. An example would be discussing improving the energy efficiency in the kitchen of a building that is condemned or on the verge of falling apart; though the methods for improving the kitchen might be totally valid, they're of little practical concern as they'd make no contribution to the long term viability of the building.

Something like "a drop in the bucket" but which emphasizes that the "drop" is well-conceived or -intentioned.

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EDIT:

The answers here have been fantastic (and hilarious), though I think the phrase that best fits my request was actually listed by @user9383 in her/his question (not in the answer but in the question itself):

Fixing a leaky faucet in a burning building.

This phrase perfectly captures both aspects of my request:

1. The intentions/method have merit: in general, leaky faucets need to be fixed.

2. Despite this, the effort is wasted due much bigger problems: despite the inherent merit of the faucet-fixing, the ensuing destruction prevents the realization of any substantial benefit.

Answer 1

Rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic — Wiktionary

To do something pointless or insignificant that will soon be overtaken by events, or that contributes nothing to the solution of a current problem.

Answer 2

In software development, this is sometimes colloquially referred to a "turd polishing". Here's a definition from Urban Dictionary you might find appropriate to your situation:

An engineering term referring to the process of examining a product, process, or system for defects, fixing the defects, then repeating as new defects appear, instead of re-engineering the solution with fewer defects.

And in context:

"In other words, you attack your firewall / software / website / whatever from the outside, identify a flaw in it, fix the flaw, and then go back to looking. One of my programmer buddies refers to this process as 'turd polishing' because, as he says, it doesn't make your code any less smelly in the long run but management might enjoy its improved, shiny, appearance in the short term."

And on the topic of software development...

If your question is specifically about software development (programming), you may also be interested in the related concept of "software debt", where the degree of bugginess in your application is seen as a kind of debt taken on for development expediency, but which eventually has to be paid off.

Answer 3

putting a bandaid on a broken leg

Emphasizes that the effort is well-intentioned but ill-conceived, as requested by original poster.

eg: https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/biography-autobiography/Band-Aid-for-a-Broken-Leg-Damien-Brown-9781743315569

some other variations here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/uselessness

Answer 4

Papering over the cracks — Cambridge

to hide problems, especially arguments between people, in order to make a situation seem better than it really is
"She tried to paper over the cracks, but I could see that the relationship was failing."

The house is falling apart; hanging new wallpaper certainly makes it more pleasant to live in, but does nothing to remedy the root issue.

Answer 5

Buying a new saddle for a dead horse.

I really like the titanic answer, in IT we tend to use more the dead horse metaphor for this kind of problems.

Well, the original is Flogging, which in modern idiom became kicking, which is just as useless but also pretty negative. He wants a nicer version that underlines that it is a good solution (which kicking would not be), but pretty useless in that moment, so I added the buying a new saddle, which is pretty good gesture usually, but not useful in this situation. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flogging_a_dead_horse

Answer 6

How about "bailing out the ocean"? Implies that what you're doing is a good fix for a small problem, but won't work as the actual issues it too big.

I have a mental image of water rushing through cracks in a dam while someone carefully plugs a small hole, but while I feel like that's the memory of an expression, it isn't coming to mind, so maybe not. I'm sure there's a saying somewhere to do with plugging leaks...

Answer 7

A band-aid solution.

From the Cambridge English Dictionary:

a temporary solution that does not deal with the cause of a problem

From the Band-Aid brand adhesive bandage, intended for minor injuries.

Answer 8

You can use the phrase:

The surgery was a success but the patient died.

Used in this way, you can show that even if the job was done properly, it does not address the full scope of the problem.

Answer 9

You can call that

putting lipstick on a pig

The fix is the lipstick, the pig is the system. Even after the fix, the system is still ugly, to the point that the fix made no difference.

Lipstick on a Pig at Wikipedia, Urban Dictionary

Answer 10

Exercise in futility, though it doesn't exactly express the part about being a limited solution.

Answer 11

How about

Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted

Keeping the stable door closed is clearly a good idea, but is now rendered pointless because the horse has already escaped.

I actually prefer the deckchairs on the titanic one, but as the OP didn't seem to like that one I thought I'd offer another alternative.

Answer 12

If you are looking for a metaphor, "a golden drop in a black universe", though not idiomatic, is metaphorical and seems to fit perfectly.

• "The building is falling to pieces. I wouldn't spend my time and money trying to rebuild the facade. It would be a golden drop in a black universe."

Answer 13

Saving the Tootsie Rolls. I used to work with someone who would accuse people of the following: "The store is burning down, and you're trying to save the Tootsie Rolls." The proposed solution -- saving the Tootsie Rolls -- which is, in a sense, valid, clearly targets "one of many problems in an entity plagued by so many problems as to render the individual solution unimportant." Unfortunately, I can't find any references for this piece of wisdom, but I have remembered and relied upon it for many years: Don't save the Tootsie Rolls, save the store!

Answer 14

Although not an idiom in the traditional sense, consider throwing back the starfish. It comes from a story, one version of which follows:

One day an old man was walking down the beach just before dawn. In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea. As the old man approached the young man, he asked, "Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?" The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. The old man exclaimed, "But there must be thousands of starfish. How can your efforts make any difference?" The young man looked down at the starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in the sea, he said," It makes a difference to this one!" - Grain of Rice Project

There are a number of variants to this story. Wikipedia attributes the original to Loren Eiseley as part of an essay entitled "The Star Thrower".

The story has been adapted and retold by motivational speakers and on internet sites, often without attribution, since at least the mid 1980s. - Wikipedia

The idea in this popular adaptation is that the efforts are important to the immediate focus, even though many others are neglected for (in this case) lack of resources - so many that the scale of the neglect dwarfs that of the fix. The fix, however, is well-intentioned and well-conceived, as the question requests.

The metaphor has also been used in a negative sense:

Without new fishing practices and policy, those same starfish surely would wash ashore again. Worse, the rescuers would have tricked themselves into believing they were actually solving the problem. - By Rich Tafel, Social Entrepreneurs Must Stop Throwing Starfish

Answer 15

One of the oldest (I'd guess), that applies to fixing problems and host of other futilities & irrelevancies is:

You are casting pearls before swine.

This metaphor depicts an attempt to use something beautiful and refined to alleviate the condition of something utterly incapable of such beauty or refinement.

Casting pearls before swine solves nothing, is a wasted effort, and only makes the whole situation more upsetting or disappointing.

A fix as you propose is casting pearls before swine.

Answer 16

Put one's finger in the dike

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dyke:

Attempt to stem the advance of something undesirable.

From a story of a small Dutch boy who saved his community from flooding, by placing his finger in a hole in a dike.

Today, many people view sticking one's finger in the dike negatively, i.e., as a valid proposed solution to a problem, but a solution that targets "one of many problems in an entity plagued by so many problems as to render the individual solution unimportant." Sticking one's finger in the dike merely forestalls the disaster to follow absent real solutions to real problems.

Answer 17

See also spitting in the ocean, with a particular emphasis on the way it is used in this particular article.

"It's spitting in the ocean but at least they're doing something," said Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users co-founder Ann Livingston.

"It's a very, very, humble, tiny thing but it's good, and I'm glad they're doing it."

Answer 18

The expression penny wise and pound foolish may fit the bill here:

The phrase is also occasionally used for being very careful about unimportant matters and careless about important ones.

The normal sense is to be tight with small amounts of money, but careless with large ones, however conceptually the same thing could apply to decisions.

The example in the question of improving the energy efficiency in the kitchen of a building that is condemned is similar. Care is being taken over energy efficiency, but the problem of the building being condemned is ignored.

Answer 19

"You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" comes to mind.

Though his intentions were good, Bob's plan to paint the dilapidated house was an attempt to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. All he would end up with is a dilapidated, albeit painted, house.

Answer 20

I've heard this called the bike-shed effect (or simply bikeshedding) where people focus their efforts on the small or easier tasks instead of working on the harder parts of the problem.

From wikipedia:

In the third chapter, "High Finance, or the Point of Vanishing Interest", Parkinson writes about a fictional finance committee meeting with a three-item agenda: The first is the signing of a £10 million contract to build a reactor, the second a proposal to build a £350 bicycle shed for the clerical staff, and the third proposes £21 a year to supply refreshments for the Joint Welfare Committee.

1. The £10 million number is too big and too technical, and it passes in two and a half minutes.

2. The bicycle shed is a subject understood by the board, and the amount within their life experience, so committee member Mr Softleigh says that an aluminium roof is too expensive and they should use asbestos. Mr Holdfast wants galvanised iron. Mr Daring questions the need for the shed at all. Holdfast disagrees. Parkinson then writes: "The debate is fairly launched. A sum of £350 is well within everybody's comprehension. Everyone can visualise a bicycle shed. Discussion goes on, therefore, for forty-five minutes, with the possible result of saving some £50. Members at length sit back with a feeling of accomplishment."

3. Parkinson then described the third agenda item, writing: "There may be members of the committee who might fail to distinguish between asbestos and galvanised iron, but every man there knows about coffee – what it is, how it should be made, where it should be bought – and whether indeed it should be bought at all. This item on the agenda will occupy the members for an hour and a quarter, and they will end by asking the secretary to procure further information, leaving the matter to be decided at the next meeting."

Jeff Atwood talks about this on his Coding Horror blog:

Although discussion can meander in any topic, the probability of meandering goes up as the technical difficulty of the topic goes down. After all, the greater the technical difficulty, the fewer participants can really follow what's going on. Those who can are likely to be the most experienced developers, who have already taken part in such discussions thousands of times before, and know what sort of behavior is likely to lead to a consensus everyone can live with. Thus, consensus is hardest to achieve in technical questions that are simple to understand and easy to have an opinion about, and in "soft" topics such as organization, publicity, funding, etc. People can participate in those arguments forever, because there are no qualifications necessary for doing so, no clear ways to decide (even afterward) if a decision was right or wrong, and because simply outwaiting other discussants is sometimes a successful tactic.

The principle that the amount of discussion is inversely proportional to the complexity of the topic has been around for a long time, and is known informally as the Bikeshed Effect.

For your context, you might also say the person's efforts are sisyphean.