This week on Automation for the Nation I discuss Thinking In Systems and Change Management, talking about systems complexity and systems change.
How do we manage change? Assessing urgency and what does it mean when no-one is owning a (technical) systems problem. I talk about a common problem with projects and systems and how we can resolve it, touching on Incident Management and Product Ownership.
Secondly, I spend a few minutes talking about the book “Thinking in Systems: A Primer”. This is a classic text which describes in simple terms how interactions between systems can get so complicated. Great for those who’ve not thought about systems interactions before and need a basis for understanding how complexity can appear very quickly.
NOTES
Brief review of “Thinking In Systems: A Primer”:
Change Management and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITIL
IT Service Management:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IT_service_management
and within that, IT Incident Managment:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_management_(ITSM)
What is a Product Owner?
https://www.scrum.org/resources/what-is-a-product-owner
QUOTES
“Now, when I speak to those who tell me that they have a ‘systems problem’ it’s like they’ve almost self-diagnosed. They know that they have a problem but they also seem to be able to tell me almost how I can help them fix it for them. ” [RB]
“Don’t assume that a change to any system will fix a given problem without causing another problem, too. Don’t assume that things work like they say they’re going to work” [RB]
“Incident Management is a process whereby you can get your systems back on track with respect to a situation with any given system” [RB]
“the very act of fixing systems in itself requires a system and a process” [RB]
Richard Bown is a writer and freelance software engineer. He is the author of HUMAN SOFTWARE a novel where small-town folk go up against AI and heartless corporate profiteering. Find out more and buy at humansoftwarebook.com
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