Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

If we can’t provide a simple representation of a system, perhaps we have a mess and not a system.

A: Can you draw me a picture of this? Something that shows how all the parts fit together?

B: Uh, well, no. No one has ever asked for such.

A: Well, I’m new here and would like to understand how everything fits together. Just a sketch. Just sketch it out for me.

B: Well, uh, you know, you see this is really complicated and…

A: I understand. Just a sketch. Just the basic pieces.

B: No, that isn’t possible here. We do complex work and capturing that in a picture just won’t work, and…

I have experienced the above conversation too often. The reason a picture is not possible is that no one understands the parts of the system. One reason no one understands the parts of the system is that the system isn’t a system. The system is actually a mess waiting to collapse.

No picture? That is often a sign of impending disaster.

There is a big dog standing outside the front door waiting to devour my homework on the way to school.