diff --git a/blog/systemantics.rst b/blog/systemantics.rst index cd0e150..ba74712 100644 --- a/blog/systemantics.rst +++ b/blog/systemantics.rst @@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ Axioms of Systemantics book by John Gall with some interesting ideas about why systems fail. Below is a summary of the book's axioms. -(The sentences in bold are mostly verbatim from the book; I edited a few. The -other sentences are my own notes about each item.) +(The sentences in bold are mostly verbatim from the book; I edited a few. +Sentences in quotes are also from the book. Everything else is my own.) **Systems In General Work Poorly Or Not At All**. There is no single, hidden defect that's preventing your complex system from working; failure to function @@ -70,39 +70,71 @@ one place to another that would be cheap, easy, convenient, safe, and fast." **The Real World Is Whatever Is Reported To The System**. "People in systems are never dealing with the real world that the rest of us have to live in but with a filtered, distorted, and censored version which is all that can get past -the sensory organs of the system itself." CEOs. +the sensory organs of the system itself." **For Every Human System, There Is A Type Of Person Adapted To Thrive On It**. +There are some attributes that are probably necessary for survival in any +system, but each system has some uniqueness in the sense that it attracts +different traits. It's hard to tell what traits any given system attracts. The +traits do not necessarily align with successful operation of the system itself +e.g. the qualities for being elected president don't necessarily align with the +ability to run the country effectively. Systems not only attract people who +will succeed within the system but also people with parasitic traits that +thrive at the expense of the system. "Efforts to remove parasitic +Systems-people by means of screening committees, review boards, and competency +examinations merely generate new job categories for such people to occupy." **The Bigger The System, The Narrower And More Specialized The Interface -With Individuals**. +With Individuals**. To the US tax system, the concept of a social security +number is (probably) more important than the concept of a person. -**A Complex System Cannot Be "Made" To Work**. +**A Complex System Cannot Be "Made" To Work**. Attempting "a good swift kick" +may improve functioning for a moment but usually results in total +nonfunctioning. **A Simple System, Designed From Scratch, Sometimes Works**. **Some Complex Systems Actually Work**. **A Complex System That Works Is Invariably Found To Have Evolved From A -Simple System That Works**. +Simple System That Works**. "The mechanism by which the transition from +*working simply system* to *working complex system* takes place is not known. +Few areas offer greater potential reward for truly first-rate research." -**A Complex System Designed From Scratch Never Works**. +**A Complex System Designed From Scratch Never Works**. The League Of Nations. **In Complex Systems, Malfunction And Total Nonfunction May Not Be Detectable -For Long Periods, If Ever**. +For Long Periods, If Ever**. "It would seem reasonable to suppose that... +governments in which all power is concentrated in the will of one man would +require as a minimum for the adequate functioning of those governments, that +the will of the despot be intact. Nevertheless, the list of absolute monarchs +who were hopelessly incompotent, even insane, is surprisingly long. They ruled +with utter caprice... for decades on end, and the net result to their countries +was---undetectably different from the rule of the wisest kings." -**Large Complex Systems Are Beyond Human Capacity To Evaluate**. +**Large Complex Systems Are Beyond Human Capacity To Evaluate**. It's difficult +to know what a large, complex system is doing, and therefore it's difficult to +judge it as a success or failure. -**A System Continues To Do Its Thing, Regardless Of Need**. +.. _Selective Service System: https://www.sss.gov/register/why-is-selective-service-important/ + +**A System Continues To Do Its Thing, Regardless Of Need**. The +`Selective Service System`_ continues to require all 18-year-old male US +citizens to register for the draft, even though the US hasn't had a draft +in 51 years. **Systems Develop Goals Of Their Own**. **Intrasystem Goals Come First**. -**Complex Systems Usually Operate In Failure Mode**. +**Complex Systems Usually Operate In Failure Mode**. Poke around any complex +system and will you find sub-systems that seem to solve a particular problem +but on closer investigation are found to not actually be working. **The Mode Of Failure From A Complex System Cannot Ordinarily Be Predicted -From Its Structure**. +From Its Structure**. When you go back and trace the actual financial +mechanisms that failed in the 2008 and 2020 financial crises... it gets pretty +weird. **The Crucial Variables Are Discovered By Accident**. @@ -114,11 +146,17 @@ Systems To Which The System Is Connected**. **When A Fail-Safe System Fails, It Fails By Failing To Fail Safe**. **Complex Systems Tend To Produce Complex Responses (Not Solutions) To -Problems**. +Problems**. **Great Advances Are Not Produced By Systems Designed To Produce Great -Advances**. - -**Systems Run Better When Designed To Run Downhill**. +Advances**. "A system that is sufficiently large, complex, and ambitious can +reduce output far below "random" levels. Thus, a federal Program to conquer +cancer may tie up all the competent researchers in the field, leaving the +problem to be solved by someone else, typically a graduate student from the +University of Tasmania doing a little recreational entomology on his vacation. +*Solutions usually come from people who see in the problem only an interesting +puzzle, and whose qualifications would never satisfy a select committee.*" + +**Systems Opposing Human Motivation Work Poorly Or Not At All**. **Loose Systems Last Longer And Work Better**.