Organizational Changes Make Messes

Last week Mike Cottmeyer posted that People Are Messy. He gave an excellent example how two people approach and respond differently to change. I might choose different words to describe people. I definitely agree that change gets messy. Change starts getting messy...

Multi-use Models

Models are like kitchen utensils. You need a variety of them, and you should know when and how to use them. They should be useful for more than a single task. I recently started exploring the first explicit model I learned years ago. The Cyberntic Model One of my more...

Verifying Models

My name is Don, and I have a problem. I’m trying to make sense of my world. Sometime ago I asked myself the question, “What is the earliest indicator that something is going wrong?” And of course, I’m not happy with just a single problem,...

Debugging System Boundaries: The Satir Interaction Model

People working with systems know the interactions between the system and its environment create a tremendous opportunity for success or failure. In computer systems the interfaces between components, utilities, other systems, and the user often contain the most...

Now, What is Change?

Re-reading my blog titles occasionally leads to interesting thoughts. Many titles mention change, and most entries have something to do with change. But after all these entries no one has asked me, “Don, what do you mean ‘change’?”. Until...