System Wisdom - PDF eBook

By

Methodically Processing

The book that’ll help you unbreak the world. 

Every time you see a broken system in the world, it’s because someone didn’t understand the difference between complicated and complex systems. 

You interact with systems every day. You’re even part of a system. Do you know the difference between complicated and complex? Most people don’t. If you do, do you know how the rules of the game change as you go from complicated to complex? System Wisdom teaches you how to change your thinking as you cross the boundary from complicated to complex systems in the real world, so you don’t go through life making the all-too-common mistakes everyone else is making every day.

System Wisdom is a collection of 17 essays split into four main parts. In the first part, you’ll learn some key concepts about different kinds of systems and their importance to our lives. Next, you’ll learn how complexity thwarts our human desire to control the people and things around us. In the penultimate section, you’ll learn the common mistakes that lead us to make poor decisions in complex situations. Finally, you’ll learn strategies to avoid adverse outcomes when faced with complexity.

About the Author

Atrin Assa has navigated complex systems while wearing many hats for over 12 years, in industries including: video games, personal computing, consumer electronics, microscopy, and data science.

Table of Contents

Everything is a system.

Is it simple, complicated, complex, or just plain nuts?

Not working or not working as intended?

The importance of systems.

They want to control the bad.

Control the uncontrollable.

The desire to do good.

They’ve got things to show.

Don’t look so clever.

Big ambition goes nowhere.

Crystal balls.

Take a different approach.

Left with broken things.

New isn’t simple.

The “why” isn’t important.

Forget the logic.

Discomfort is your edge.