Yvonne LamShared whiteboard markers as synedoche for what happens when people don't take care of a shared common resource.
(No, I don't know why people don't throw out the markers that don't write, but they don't.)
I don't think it's inevitable, but I also have no idea what is going on in people's heads when they put the non-writing markers back on the whiteboard tray.
Cameron Watters@yvonnezlam I've generally considered it evidence of difficulty making a decision when the relevant norms are not well-understood.
Like, if one doesn't know where / how to find replacements? Insufficient sense of agency or a culture where permission-seeking is the norm?
A surprising number of people are reluctant to discard things that have been exhausted of their usefulness, even if that reluctance is sub-clinical (not fully fledged hoarding).
@yvonnezlam little signs explaining such norms sometimes help.