Pragmatic Dictator

As soon as we give something a name, it becomes open to abuse and misuse.

Vendors can claim they are doing it and support it, developers can claim they do it, use it or implement it. There are a bunch of ready examples: Agile, XP, SOA and REST. Naming something makes it easy to ignore or forget its underpinnings, the elements that deliver value.

As a martial artist, I’m familiar with this pattern of behaviour: various people claim to practice and teach authentic Silat, Karate, Kung Fu, Escrima and so on. Inevitably some of them are exposed as pretenders. One of the more notable martial artists, Bruce Lee was sufficiently concerned about this that he gave serious consideration to leaving his approach to martial art (Jeet Kune Do) unnamed^*.

Is it worth naming things? Might we be better served by making our knowledge, approaches and philosophies visible for others without naming them to adopt or not as they see fit? Would it reduce the number of valueless certifications, buzzword cv’s and endless wars over which way is the way and who’s doing it right?

* Jeet Kune Do (1997) ‘Actually, I never wanted to give a name to the kind of Chinese gung fu that I have invented, but for convenience sake, I still call it “Jeet Kune Do”. However, I want to emphasize that there is no distinction between jeet kune do and any other kind of gung fu, for I strongly object to formality, and to the idea of distinction of branches.’

So many times the hardest part of moving things forward is effecting change in culture and habitual behaviours.

Habitual behaviours are the worst because one can accept the need for change, even be making it but also be completely unaware of subconscious behaviours from the old world getting in the way or continuing to drive us.

Self awareness then and being aware of our behaviours (consciously knowing what we are doing) is very important if we are to make key cultural change. It requires mentoring, questioning and motivating. Alas some people simply won’t be able to make the change. Most important of all, these changes happen sloooooowly. Although the more people who “get it” the more amplified the change gets and hopefully the quicker the remainder learn new habits.

So I’m left to ponder, just how often have we really changed things? How often have we fooled ourselves into believing we’ve achieved a revolution when actually we’ve managed little more than a slight evolution. If everyone can understand something so quickly is that not because it fits with existing understanding and behaviours? If everyone gets to carry over their creature comforts (gets what they are used to) have we not re-asserted old world thinking?

Technorati Tags: business, philosophy, technology

…is that it takes forever to achieve and by the time you deliver it, the world you built it for is gone.

Better to make a quick best guess, ship it and then iterate it in concert with the changing of the world.

Technorati Tags: philosophy, architecture, technology, design

That’s right I’m stupid, I must be cos I learn something new and significant every day.

And I’m not talking about some API detail or some new framework I mean I’m changing my thinking, I’m changing me, I’m seeing a bigger picture. I want topsight^[1], not nitty gritty detail. Detail is easy to cope with if you can see the higher view, how things fit and interact.

If I were clever, there’d be nothing more to learn and I’d have answers to all questions. Knowledge is all very fine but it comes through learning and that comes through experiencing things and that’s what makes you smarter. Having a big brain isn’t enough.

[1] Topsight – a term used by Gelernter in MirrorWorlds, meaning the ability to view the whole system rather than small details.

How many times does something like this have to happen before we understand that:

1. Business isn’t about ethics.
2. Many a lawyer feeds off point (1).
3. The cost of (1) and (2) is a human cost.

And when will we all stand up, demand a change and make sure something is done about it? Next time your tax bill rises or you get bad service from a company who will you blame? Business or yourself for silently putting up with it?

Technorati Tags: philosophy, business, society