Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking

More than ever software cannot be thought of in a linear, one-off environment way. It really never could, and continues to become more clear as software continues to grow in complexity, interconnectivity, and functionality. Systems thinking offers an school of thinking to model these systems in a way that captures how different parts interact and influence one another with the system as a whole. It shifts focus deeper behind how they work in isolation, and focuses on the relationships and interdepencies among components. It reminds me of why I appreciate the studying the field of marco economics. Where the outcome on a macro scale is so far beyond a simple relationship of supply and demand. Something like inflation is the result of thousans of inputs, outcomes of hundres of components of an economy, and millions of mirco decisions that all have an impact on the system as a whole.

Working notes

Chapter 3: shifting perspective

• The iceberg model makes me think of the 5 whys.
• why do so many authors feel the need to have numbered lists.
  • "here's 5 practices to change your life"
    • but in this case "here's also a secret 6th one too"
• Referenced the book The Deep Work by Cal Newport
  • +1 to this in general
  • also references The Anxious Generation by Jonathon Haidt
• like that he references successful team have an adversion to refusing to think well/deep
  • this aligns with the bottom up approach that has worked well for us in the past
  • Aligns with the affiliative and democratic management style I align with the most leadership styles
    • team first, focus more on culture, team relationships, and bonds
    • structure will dictate the design of solutions
  • "no one gets to be a cat"
    • teams shouldn't need cat herding or glue (most of the time)
• "Modeling" thinking about a system visually
  • represent our thinking of a system - not reality
  • should also be defensible though
• have played the "beer game" in a previous training