4 ms·

Complex systems are always in a failed state.

• analog31 4y ago
  But "failed state" simply means that some of the controls have been disabled, at least according to John Gall. That just translates into working without quite knowing how they work.
• nonrandomstring 4y ago
  Complex systems are always in a state of maintenance. Some part is always failing, but we can repair it. Systemic failure happens when we can't keep up with the necessary maintenance. It's very easy to look a a big complex system, see lots of failure, and conclude the whole ship is going down, but that may not be the case.
  • slx26 4y ago
    Funny thought: then we may characterize a complex system as a system that's (most of the time) too big to fail all at once, and whose resilience to failure simply arises from continued previous failure. Which sounds like another way of saying "I don't know what I'm doing, but it kinda works"... until it doesn't. Maybe when it has inevitably grown too big to be successfully maintained anymore.