A practical application of this for computer people: performance improvements are imperceptible unless it is a large factor. Even "laypeople" will notice a 2-3x difference, but a series of 1.1x improvements adding up to 3x over time is generally not noticed, even by tech professionals.<p>So, I tend not to release performance improvements one-at-a-time. That's a career-limiting move in the passive sense. Instead, I batch performance tuning changes and release several at the same time, which provides a much bigger "bang" for the users. The next morning, they'll <i>notice</i>, write emails to managers with words like "Wow!" in it, and then you get promoted.