“What if we didn’t have to be precise?”

Partial or Excessive Action: Too much or too little.

Overdoing it

In woodworking, a dowel can be used to overfill a hole that will then require sanding to make flush.

In home construction, drywall is often applied to framing to form smooth walls. This drywall is cut nearly to fit from floor to ceiling. Any gap is left at the bottom and is later covered by baseboard trim. This avoids the painstaking effort of making the drywall fit between floor and ceiling precisely.

When bricklaying, it is typical to apply more mortar than necessary, then troweling away the excess.  Similarly, an excess of grout is applied then some removed when tiling.

Car paint is applied liberally and parts that are not be painted are masked.

A little less than necessary

Some foods are boiled or microwaved to cook their center before high heat is applied to broil the exterior.  “Instant rice” is mostly cooked before being prepared to eat.

More examples

As I stumble across real world examples of this Inventive Principle in action I add them here.

Your turn

What problems do you face that this inventive principle could help solve? Have you used this principle before?