[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fNO1BQy_WYo5-47qSRpSkVQ6Q3ZyU1hu4mOc7-4Jkaok":3,"$flFcRv590gQRvgctklRLJvhZYbgwnQI-pSw_xsqgEA2Y":50},{"author":4,"tags":49},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":10,"bio_jsonld":11,"slug":47,"image_url":48},210710,"Ward Cunningham","W",15,"Ward Cunningham is an American computer scientist, programmer, and technology evangelist born on May 26, 1949, in Michigan City.\n\nCunningham attended Highland High School before pursuing his education at Purdue University. His professional identity encompasses three distinct but related designations: computer scientist, programmer, and technology evangelist. These roles together characterize a career oriented across both the technical and communicative dimensions of computing.\n\nCunningham's work has been conducted in English, and his background traces a path from his early schooling at Highland High School through his university training at Purdue University. His standing as a computer scientist and programmer, alongside the separate designation of technology evangelist, marks the range of his professional activity within the American computing context.","Ward Cunningham is an American computer scientist, programmer, and technology evangelist born on May 26, 1949, in Michigan City.",{"@graph":12,"@context":46},[13,23],{"@id":14,"name":6,"@type":15,"sameAs":16,"birthDate":21,"description":22},"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7637","Person",[14,17,18,19,20],"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham","https://viaf.org/viaf/20913117/","https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00016439","https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL2670967A","1949-05-26","American computer programmer",{"@type":24,"author":25,"headline":28,"isBasedOn":29,"mainEntity":30,"reviewedBy":31,"articleBody":9,"dateCreated":32,"dateModified":33,"additionalProperty":34,"creativeWorkStatus":45},"Article",{"name":26,"@type":27},"Editorial Team","Organization","Ward Cunningham — biography",[14,17,19],{"@id":14},{"name":26,"@type":27},"2026-05-26T00:20:42.472759+00:00","2026-05-26T00:28:15.523335+00:00",[35,39,42],{"@type":36,"value":37,"propertyID":38},"PropertyValue","Q7637","wikidata",{"@type":36,"value":40,"propertyID":41},"1.000","factscore",{"@type":36,"value":43,"propertyID":44},"claude-sonnet-4-6-r1","draftModel","AI-drafted, auto-published","https://schema.org","ward-cunningham",null,[],{"quotes":51,"pagination":115},[52,60,66,72,78,84,90,96,103,109],{"id":53,"quote_text":54,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":57,"source":58,"quote_tag":59,"commentary":48},3503538,"When a manager asks for hard data, that’s usually just his way of saying no.",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"id":61,"quote_text":62,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":63,"source":64,"quote_tag":65,"commentary":48},3503534,"When I was at Tek, I was frustrated that computer hardware was being improved faster than computer software. I wanted to invent some software that was completely different, that would grow and change as it was used. That’s how wiki came about.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"id":67,"quote_text":68,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":69,"source":70,"quote_tag":71,"commentary":48},3503531,"There’s been an awful lot of discussion about what is or isn’t simple, and people have gotten a pretty sophisticated notion of simplicity, but I’m not sure it has helped.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"id":73,"quote_text":74,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":75,"source":76,"quote_tag":77,"commentary":48},3503527,"I can’t tell you how much time is spent worrying about decisions that don’t matter. To just be able to make a decision and see what happens is tremendously empowering, but that means you have to set up the situation such that when something does go wrong, you can fix it.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"id":79,"quote_text":80,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":81,"source":82,"quote_tag":83,"commentary":48},3503521,"Why have a locked wiki when you can instead just post static Web pages?",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"id":85,"quote_text":86,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":87,"source":88,"quote_tag":89,"commentary":48},3503520,"When you get in situations where you cannot afford to make a mistake, it’s very hard to do the right thing. So if you’re trying to do the right thing, the right thing might be to eliminate the cost of making a mistake rather than try to guess what’s right.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"id":91,"quote_text":92,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":93,"source":94,"quote_tag":95,"commentary":48},3503515,"Each routine you read turns out to be pretty much what you expected. You can call it beautiful code when the code also makes it look like the language was made for the problem.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"id":97,"quote_text":98,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":99,"source":100,"quote_tag":101,"commentary":102},3503509,"What’s the simplest thing that could possibly work?",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],"**The Backstory**\n\nThis quote is attributed to Ward Cunningham, a pioneer in software development and the inventor of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb. It's from his writings and speeches around the turn of the century (1990s-2000s), as he was reflecting on the principles that guided his work at Cunningham & Cunningham Inc., a small consulting firm focused on object-oriented programming.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\n\nAt first glance, this quote might seem to advocate for simplicity or minimalism. However, upon closer inspection, it reveals a more profound idea: the pursuit of elegance is often hindered by an overemphasis on finding the \"perfect\" solution. The author is suggesting that we often get bogged down in complexity because our expectations are too high. We're so focused on making something perfect that we fail to recognize when something simple and functional will suffice.\n\n**How to Use This**\n\nIn applying this mindset, a modern professional or creative can ask themselves: \"What's the simplest thing that could possibly work?\" before embarking on an elaborate plan or design. By acknowledging the potential for overcomplication, they can avoid getting mired in unnecessary complexity and instead focus on delivering value through minimalism and elegance. This approach can be particularly useful when working under time constraints or with limited resources.",{"id":104,"quote_text":105,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":106,"source":107,"quote_tag":108,"commentary":48},3503502,"Global collaboration is something that Wiki mastered in a small way and here we can master it in a big way.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"id":110,"quote_text":111,"author_id":5,"source_id":55,"has_image":56,"author":112,"source":113,"quote_tag":114,"commentary":48},3503494,"A wiki works best where you’re trying to answer a question that you can’t easily pose, where there’s not a natural structure that’s known in advance to what you need to know.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":47,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":48},{},[],{"currentPage":116,"totalPages":117,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":118},1,2,10]