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The "writing down instructions" approach is very effective for complex tasks that you are unable to script and don't want to invest the time to learn properly (
by amalcon 16y ago
The "writing down instructions" approach is very effective for complex tasks that you are unable to script and don't want to invest the time to learn properly (such as, for example, every task on a computer for a certain class of user).
I use this approach all the time for bureaucratic "machines". It's so much more efficient than trying to actually figure out how the bureaucracy works.
- Gormo 16y agoBut if you build an abstract semantic model of the bureaucratic "machine", you'll be able to "program" the organization as if it were a computer. Imagine what you could accomplish! Sure, it's a lot more difficult due to the non-deterministic nature of most social systems, but even a loose, stochastic model allows you to "hack" organizations in a way that is likely to make your endeavors within an organization that much more effective. Interestingly, the fuzzier nature of social systems gives it a kind of "undo" function - you can, in most circumstances, make up for mistakes and misjudgements - so the cost of experimentation is more similar to software than to, say, structural engineering.