Systemantics: The Underground Text of Systems Lore by John Gall, D.H. Gall (Illustrator) [ISBN: 0961825103 ]
Also Systemantics: How Systems Work & Especially How They Fail by John Gall [ISBN: 0812906748 ]
Systemantics is what I thought was a funny book written by a medical doctor in New England called Gall. I was in Britain at the time. Since I moved to the states, I've realized that he was not exaggerating. It is all about how systems fail to work. Here are some of the ideas - from memory.
- A complex working system will be found to have evolved from a small working system.
- To make a complex system, start with a small one and grow it. (kinda familiar?)
- If you want to get something done - do not create a system.
- No system ever does what its name says it does. (this comes from GeneralSemantics).
- Any sufficiently complex system exhibits antics. (Hence the name: system-antics),
- When a large system goes wrong, its makers usually try to do the same thing only bigger next time. (The titanic effect)
- All systems encroach.
- The file is the reality.
there are a couple dozen more.... rules to live by... IMHO
-- DickBotting