up:: Concepts MOC tags::#concept
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Gall’s Law
Gall’s Law is a rule of thumb for systems design that states:
All complex systems that work evolved from simpler systems that worked.
[And conversely…] A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.
So don’t build unearned structure. Don’t build walls in the desert.
Avoid costly structuring traps.
If you want to build a complex system that works, you have to build a simpler system first, and then improve it over time. This is a major component of the Idea Emergence Levels in any LYT framework.
Put another way, the only structure that can work over time, is the structure that slowly emerges over time—validating its own existence through its successful use.
Practically speaking, DO NOT start structuring your “ultimate” system in one fell swoop. It will fail you, because it will be fragile, because it wasn’t forged in the fire of practical usage. You will waste time and enthusiasm—and could possibly burn out.
That said, you weren’t born yesterday. You have lived many years of life, so even though your PKM digital structures may not all be “earned”, you are also not starting from scratch.
Related
Divergence, Emergence, Convergence, Complexity, Systems Thinking, Systems Theory
Wiki
Examples: This law…can be used to explain the success of systems like the World Wide Web and Blogosphere, which grew from simple to complex systems incrementally, and the failure of systems like CORBA, which began with complex specifications.