Optimizing For Complexity
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHilltake for granted for a minute that professional software development is a _complex_ problem, in the sense of complexity theory.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:30:40ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921398267979722752— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:30:40
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921398267979722752
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHilli have in recent months been fretting, then, at how to *optimize* for s/d given that fundamental complexity.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:31:26ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921398460481449985— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:31:26
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921398460481449985
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillproblems that are merely intricate have the property that when you strike them sharply they break into smaller pieces.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:32:17ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921398673849937921— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:32:17
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921398673849937921
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillyou get problem-shards, smaller ones, and hence more soluble, less intricate. rinse, lather, repeat, and they eventually get "'easy".Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:33:06ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921398879010074625— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:33:06
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921398879010074625
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillcomplex problems don't have that property.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:33:50ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921399066705256448— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:33:50
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921399066705256448
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillwhen you strike a complex problem sharply, it still breaks into pieces, but most of them are still complex problems.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:33:58ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921399097378164736— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:33:58
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921399097378164736
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHilli use the metaphor of color separation. photos are printed by first dividing them into color separation layers.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:36:58ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921399855263645697— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:36:58
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921399855263645697
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillthe usual is cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, tho others are possible. one photo turns in to four separations, one for each ink.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:37:34ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400006464204800— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:37:34
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400006464204800
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillnotice that the separations aren't themselves *simpler* than their combination. they are all as complex as the photo itself.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:38:03ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400125238448130— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:38:03
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400125238448130
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillso we strike a complex photo sharply, and we get four equally complex separation layers from it.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:39:02ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400371653890049— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:39:02
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400371653890049
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHilli am in the process of striking professional software development this way. and i have (so far) produced what i think are five separations.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:39:52ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400582337957888— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:39:52
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400582337957888
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHilli caution the reader with the three P's: this work is partial, preliminary, premature.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:40:46ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400809404944384— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:40:46
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400809404944384
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillpartial cuz i don't think i've got it all yet. preliminary cuz i don't think i've got all of even what i've got. premature cuz go easy.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:41:25ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400972529815553— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:41:25
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921400972529815553
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHilloptimizing for professional software development means optimizing for drive, sustenance, collaboration, stepping, and narrative.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:44:43ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921401802054127616— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:44:43
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921401802054127616
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillwe optimize for drive, juice, energy, because wrestling with complex problems is much harder than wrestling with intricate ones.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:45:32ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921402010590744576— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:45:32
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921402010590744576
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillit demands a level of individual energy and focus and a kind of perpetual improvised preparedness that is simply exhausting.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:47:52ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921402596602138624— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:47:52
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921402596602138624
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillwe optimize for sustenance -- the continuous reaping of partial value, a kind of "winning on the way" instead of "winning at the end".Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:48:47ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921402827704094720— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:48:47
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921402827704094720
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillwe do this because complexity means we don't actually know where we're going OR when we'll get there.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:49:12ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921402930581901312— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:49:12
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921402930581901312
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillwe optimize for collaboration, the direct interaction of humans, because dealing w/complexity is almost entirely about the flow of ideas.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:53:00ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921403889412386818— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:53:00
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921403889412386818
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillideas are the scarce resource, and collaboration is a never-ending fountain of them.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:53:35ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921404036166938624— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:53:35
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921404036166938624
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillwe optimize for stepping -- working in small doable/undoable "not definitely wrong" units -- because "definitely right" is out of reach.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:55:06ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921404418540670976— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:55:06
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921404418540670976
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillstepping is the only answer to the knee of predictability, which is the binding constraint of complex systems.Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:56:43ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921404824045981696— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 15:56:43
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921404824045981696
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillwe optimize for narrative -- shared framing stories that explain & suggest local action to ourselves and others -- cuz it's how humans deal.Fri, Oct 20 2017 16:01:08ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921405936736067584— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 16:01:08
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921405936736067584
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillhumans are adept at complexity, we handle it using narrative-rational decision-making, and we handle it better when we're intending to.Fri, Oct 20 2017 16:03:13ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921406458859802624— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 16:03:13
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921406458859802624
Michael D. Hill@GeePawHillso. that's my current take. drive, sustenance, stepping, collaboration, and narrative. five "color separations" for complexity in pro s/d.Fri, Oct 20 2017 16:04:10ReplyRetweetFavoritehttps://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921406699340292096— Michael D. Hill (@GeePawHill)Fri, Oct 20 2017 16:04:10
https://twitter.com/GeePawHill/status/921406699340292096
