Many years ago I read an article about Boeing's chief engineer - he apparently had the "whole aircraft in his head" - it as a schematic but as a series of deep

Many years ago I read an article about Boeing's chief engineer - he apparently had the "whole aircraft in his head" - it as a schematic but as a series of deeply understood components the fitted together (from Bernoulli's principle to hydraulic pressure equations and the weight of fuel distribution as tanks empty. The whole enchilada). There is nothing particularly magical - one assumes that the top 10% of any MIT graduating class could be taught to do the same over a decade or less. But I am guessing that it needed a organisational effort to ensure the bits added never got beyond one person, and that he was comfortable saying "stop". Every railway and new or refurbished bridge needs to be signed off by a railway engineer - who can and should refuse if it is sub-standard. Keeping our software under the same degree of control will need similar levels of handing the keys of the kingdom over to a small number of devleads. And ensuring they do not encounter unmanageable conflicts of interest.