This podcast takes a deep dive into a video that exposes two common misconceptions about systems thinking. First, the video clarifies that reductionism and systems thinking are complementary analytical tools, not mutually exclusive approaches, each useful in different contexts. Second, the video explains that “open” and “closed” systems are not distinct types of systems, but rather different perspectives on the same system determined by the observer’s focus on the problem at hand. The authors then
This podcast does a deep dive into Dr Kasser’s video discussing the two most common mistakes students make on essay exams: [1] failing to fully answer the questions asked and [2] including irrelevant information. The video proposes using three tools to avoid these errors: (1) the STALL method (carefully reading the question), (2) a compliance matrix (a table to track answered question parts), and (3) an answer template (structured response based on the question’s format). The video uses a sample exam
In my previous blog I pointed out that one of the reasons for project failures was that we were not teaching the right things to systems engineers and project managers. This leads to the question, what should we be teaching them? If you ask most systems engineers as to what the system they are developing should do once it is placed into operation, they will tell you to look at the requirements. So when I
One reason for systems engineers and project managers repeating the same activities and expecting different results pointed out by Niels Malotaux pointed out in his LinkedIn comment was, “ignorance or incompetence” (Malotaux, 2021). Actually, this observation is not new. Almost 30 years ago, Deming stated that 94% of the problems belong to the system (i.e., were the responsibility of management) (Deming, 1993). Juran, as quoted by Harrington stated that management causes 80 – 85% of
First published in 1994, the annual Standish (Chaos) report annually points out that significant numbers of projects fail to meet their goals on time or within budget and many of those projects are cancelled with the corresponding non-productive spending of billions. The 2015 report concluded that, “over the last 20 years the project management field has experienced increasing layers of project management processes, tools, governance, compliance, and oversight. Yet these activities and products have done