systems
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⏳ The "long-term" may be closer than you think...
A common objection to “Platform Thinking” (proactively build your platform from the start) is: there isn’t time right now; this can be done after the 1.0 release when there is ample time and resources. The “long-term” can be defined as when…
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📈 Scale vs. Value
As scale increases (# of people, # of technologies, # of products, # of teams, life cycle of product, experience, amount of knowledge, etc.), what does the value produced look like? Metcalfe’s law states that the financial value or influen…
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🌀 Complex systems are hard to predict
My wife makes sourdough, which is a multi-day process and at times unpredictable. Recently, the current batch was a little sluggish and not expanding like it should, so she “fed” it and left it on the counter. It took off during the night a…
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🔄 Closed-loop engineering
What are some ways we can close the loop in engineering efforts? Systematic testing User feedback These ensure whatever we build works and is useful.
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🔄 Look for closed loops
Closed loop systems are stable. Why? Because they learn and self-correct. In any system, process, person, or organization, look for closed loops. If something is not working, chances are there is an open loop.
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🌽 What is the easiest way to avoid silos?
Silos occur when a person or group of people operate in isolation from the rest of the organization. One of the reasons you have failure in organizations is one silo does not know that the other silo is doing. Silos are deadly in our organi…
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👤 It's all about the people
It is very true, we need great people in our organizations. And I have the utmost respect for those who can motivate and lead people. I also have the utmost respect for the capabilities of humans – that divine spark of creativity and the ab…
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🏆 Goals vs. Systems
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear, Atomic Habits Goals and vision are important, but we also need a way to get there.
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🏗️ Platforms are for building systems
If you are building a one-off, non-connected device, you can get by without a platform. This is why so many design-shops don’t get platforms – they are designing something then moving on to the next project. But if you are building a connec…