Thread by @TaylorPearsonMe

Just posted a summary and my notes from John Galls' wonderful book Systemantics, a wonderful (and funny) book on how systems work

Some of my favorite lines....

taylorpearson.me/bookreview/sys…

SYSTEMS IN GENERAL WORK POORLY OR NOT AT ALL More technically stated: COMPLICATED SYSTEMS SELDOM EXCEED FIVE PERCENT EFFICIENCY

SYSTEMS TEND TO MALFUNCTION CONSPICUOUSLY JUST AFTER THEIR GREATEST TRIUMPH

Toynbee explains this effect by pointing out the strong tendency to apply a previously-successful strategy to the new challenge....

THE ARMY IS NOW FULLY PREPARED TO FIGHT THE PREVIOUS WAR For brevity, we shall, in the future, refer to this Axiom as Fully Prepared for the Past (F.P.F.P.)

PERFECTION OF PLANNING IS A SYMPTOM OF DECAY

A TEMPORARY PATCH WILL VERY LIKELY BE PERMANENT. Systems generally Don’t Go Away.

Since they occupy space, our landscape is now littered with the bleached bones and rotting carcasses of old attempted solutions to our problems: THE OLD SYSTEM IS NOW THE NEW PROBLEM

In Zen, there is a saying, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!”

After the initial shock, one understands that someone who claims to have achieved Buddha-hood obviously has not done so. The claim refutes itself.

The Naming Effect

(1) large Systems really do not do what they purport to do and that

(2) people in large Systems are not actually performing the function ascribed to them

We should have no trouble understanding that: IF A SYSTEM CAN BE EXPLOITED, IT WILL BE.

Nor will we cavil at its twin: ANY SYSTEM CAN BE EXPLOITED

COMPLEX SYSTEM THAT WORKS IS INVARIABLY FOUND TO HAVE EVOLVED FROM A SIMPLE SYSTEM THAT WORKED

A COMPLEX SYSTEM DESIGNED FROM SCRATCH NEVER WORKS AND CANNOT BE MADE TO WORK. YOU HAVE TO START OVER, BEGINNING WITH A WORKING SIMPLE SYSTEM

WHATEVER THE SYSTEM HAS DONE BEFORE, YOU CAN BE SURE IT WILL DO IT AGAIN

THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE IS NOT THE INFORMATION YOU WANT. THE INFORMATION YOU WANT IS NOT THE INFORMATION YOU NEED.

THE INFORMATION YOU NEED IS NOT THE INFORMATION YOU CAN OBTAIN.

the person (or System) who has a problem and doesn’t realize it has two problems, the problem itself and the meta-problem of Unawareness

IF YOU’RE NOT AWARE THAT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, HOW CAN YOU CALL FOR HELP?

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY AGAIN is a dangerous, two-edged precept which, if wrongly understood, can become the basis for a lifetime career of Struggling-and-Failing.

More in line with the spirit of the Creative Tack is the newer admonition: IF SOMETHING ISN’T WORKING, DON’T KEEP DOING IT. DO SOMETHING ELSE INSTEAD

SYSTEMS RUN BEST WHEN DESIGNED TO RUN DOWNHILL —or, in the vernacular:

GO WITH THE FLOW In human terms, this means working with human tendencies rather than against them.

LOOSE SYSTEMS LAST LONGER AND FUNCTION BETTER

PLAN TO SCRAP THE FIRST SYSTEM: YOU WILL ANYWAY

A SYSTEM THAT IGNORES FEEDBACK HAS ALREADY BEGUN THE PROCESS OF TERMINAL INSTABILITY

IF IT’S FOR DIGGING A HOLE IT SHOULD PROBABLY LOOK SOMETHING LIKE A SHOVEL (B) IF IT LOOKS LIKE A SHOVEL, TRY USING IT FOR DIGGING A HOLE

GREAT ADVANCES DO NOT COME OUT OF SYSTEMS DESIGNED TO PRODUCE GREAT ADVANCES

IF IT’S WORTH DOING AT ALL, IT’S WORTH DOING POORLY

IN ORDER TO SUCCEED IT IS NECESSARY TO KNOW HOW TO AVOID THE MOST LIKELY WAYS TO FAIL

Creative reframing is the art of substituting useful metaphors for limiting metaphors.

IN ORDER TO REMAIN UNCHANGED, THE SYSTEM MUST CHANGE

Tempered, moderate pessimism is the hallmark of the seasoned Systems-student.

IN DEALING WITH LARGE SYSTEMS, THE STRIVING FOR PERFECTION IS A SERIOUS IMPERFECTION.