Systems Exhaustion and Playing Whack-A-Mole
The more I study systems literature and attempt to apply what I learn, the more I encounter people (including me, multiple times) concentrating on levels of systems that are out of their direct or indirect influence.
Too Much Structure?
It's important to demonstrate that adding too much structure can introduce whole new activities and efforts. And sometimes, that new work defeats the purpose of the original task.
The Design Way
My favorite design book — without question. The Design Way, written by Harold G. Nelson and Erik Stolterman can be summarized as dismantling problems and solutions as the primary intellectual framing of design, and software development in general.
In Pursuit of the Common Good
A short, fun book written by Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner telling their story of starting Newman’s Own and building it into an enormous, profitable, and beloved food company while donating more than $600 million to children along the way.
My Only Design Principle
The suggestion to “make simple interfaces” can be laughed away as overly simplistic. Or, it could be an idealized standard that’s impossible to achieve. It all depends on your interpretation.