Thread by @Grady_Booch

Twitter 2.0: a modern story about systems engineering.

Take a legacy organization that has over the years built a not perfect but reasonably solid web centric system at elastic global scale.

Let that engineering team operate under the demonstrably, poor leadership of @jack and the distinct lack of adult supervision by Twitter’s board for too many years.

Bring in a reluctant CEO with the charisma of Mussolini, the bluster of Trump, and the sensitive nature of a bull in a china shop.

Have that CEO finance the deal with a debt that would stun a team of ox, a debt that has to be serviced on top of that organization’s already negative cash flow.

On day one and for many more days that follow, have that CEO alienate his newly-acquired users, scare away his few advertisers, and decimate the development team.

Have that CEO demand strict allegiance to his capricious edicts, institute unsustainable engineering processes, and tear apart the existing infrastructure by ripping out parts he barely understands.

So here’s the thing:

Making a Twitter 2.0 is only partly a software engineering problem.

It’s a systems engineering problem that requires a firm and steady hand on all the other moving parts such as the business model, understanding the needs of its customers and other stakeholders, defining a compelling vision for the future.

However…

Elon is approaching Twitter 2.0 as if it’s just a “hardcore software engineering” problem.

That’s where he’s gone off the rails.

Twitter 2.0 is literally not rocket science, but Elon is treating it like it is. His focus on the hardcore side of it is understandable yet misguided, and represents a dangerous distraction and opportunity cost.

I have no idea how this will evolve in the coming weeks.

But I do know that it will be uncomfortable to watch, as the lives of Twitter’s staff are upended and as this important global resource is trashed.