BA flight Bangalore – Heathrow – Denver; then Los Angeles. After a couple of weeks back to Jerusalem, and then another trip to India. Round, round the globe. Havel hevelim.
Trying to catch some sleep, but no avail. Too much adrenaline in the blood. “Single malt is too strong, Jonnie Walker, please.” We all are walkers on this earth … Only a Russian could drink on the morning… No, the alcohol doesn’t help. Disturbing thoughts…
The business is global, the world is flat. You touch something here; and it will crash somewhere there, but later. Cause and effect are usually distanced in time and space. Your today’s problems are somebody else’s yesterday solution. Why so often the cure is worse than disease? Could we learn to avoid it?
It’s our duty as managers to create a system¸ within which other people could work productively. Almost all work mistakes caused by systemic problems, in other words are management fault. What does it mean to build a good system? Whom we can learn from? From our Chief System Architects?
Is it truth that there is no escape from quick and dirty vs. slow and clean dilemma? Was the Genesis project also delivered quick and dirty in order to meet the seventh day deadline?
Ripple effects, bifurcations. Chaos theory. Systems thinking. Self-organizing complexity. Why does this complexity organize itself always in one direction making things even worse than they were before we tried to improve something? There would be less trouble in the world if somebody would not try to improve something? Who said this? David Roberts (“Shantaram”). Western admiration of poorly understood ancient Indian wisdom.
Java, Clojure. Erlang, Scala, C++ back, Python, Ruby. Design patterns, SCRUM, XP, refactoring. Too much to learn, too little time.
Does it really help all this learning? The more knowledge the more anger… Who said this? Do not remember.
Are we destined to the Maslow’s pyramid of needs, and until people feel safe there is no point to talk about higher aspirations? Avoid fear from the working place. Thank you, Mister Deming. What if the fear rules your organization? Watch your ass, please your boss, and climb administrative ladder as high as you can. Don’t even think about helping others. Think only about your grades at the next PER session and what your next bonus will be.
But still, Drucker claims, it’s my responsibility to build a system, where people will feel safe, will cooperate, and will contribute their best. How the hell I could build such a system? The harder you push any improvement, the harder the whole organization pushes back. Sometimes it’s even worse, the very moment there is a minimal progress some mysterious internal constraint is triggered and throws you back even further than where you did start from.
Cause – effect, cause –effect. Root cause analysis. Another slogan in fashion. How could you see the whole chain if they are interlocked in multiple feedback loops distanced in time and space? Could we really learn how to deal with complex systems and to make them better? More questions, than answers and nobody to ask.
Look for leverage. Small change if applied at proper time and place will produce big results. You are a big wit, Mister Weinberg. Could you show us, please, the place and the time? Ahh, it’s too often in the least obvious place? Could you show us this least obvious place, please? Only for your consulting fee? Too expensive for our organization, thank you. We are on the cost saving program. Need to tighten our belts this year (as the last one, and one before), no money even for Ego.
Drucker, Druker. So what if he claims it’s my responsibility to build the right system? How is he? Widely considered to be "the father of modern management.” In 1954 published his “Practice of Management”, which fifty years after is still considered the most influential book on management? Ok, if you say so. Deming claims the same? Who is Deming? In fifties helped Japanese to restore their ruined economy and to bypass Americans in electronics and car manufacturing? The farther of the modern approach to quality? Ok, I give up. It’s my responsibility. But I do not have a clue where to start from in practical terms.
Also look who I’m working with and under? Who cares about code quality? Who does really believe in team work? How would agree that an easy way out usually leads back to the hell? Who does really believe that fast is slow and that quick and dirty is NOT the only way to make money in software? How can I, yehudi katan u mushtan, stand against the whole company? I have a family to support, kids to rise.
“And at place where there are no people, try to be the man.”
The idea of ‘disturbing thoughts” comes from Nabokov’s “Pale Fire”. The narrative of the “Sleepless Flight” is revolving around basic propositions of Generic Systems Theory, summarized by Peter Senge in “The Fifth Discipline”:
- Today’s problems come from yesterday “solutions”
- The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back
- Behavior will grow worse before it grows better
- The easy way out usually leads back in
- The cure can be worse than the disaster
- Faster is slower
- Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space
- Small changes can produce big results … but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious
- You can have your cake and eat it too – but not all at once
- Dividing an elephant in half does not provide two small elephants
- There is no blame
Perhaps I just need a place where to put my disturbing thoughts to ...
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