Re: is SIP an Emergent Property

On Thursday, Jan 16, 2003, at 11:31 America/Detroit, Dierk König wrote:

> On p.14 you say that one cannot control SIP. You can only influence
> the project such that lower SIP emerges(?). Trying to control it
> would cause MeasurementDysfunction (in my terms).
>
> Seeing SIP as an emergent property in the complex adaptive system of
> software development (Hi, Jim!) would directly suggest means for
> influencing it:
> - nurture more and richer interactions between actors
> - put energy into environment conditions

I'm not sure that it is a good rhetorical tactic to invoke emergence 
here. The thing about emergent behavior is that is *by definition* 
impossible to drive in a predictable way. While you can set out the 
parameters that control the behavior of the component parts, you can't 
know how the interaction between those components gives rise to the 
emergent behavior you see at the collective level. It's what the word 
means.

In your example, you've listed two parameters that describe the manner 
of interaction between the components (developers, management, 
customers). But if indeed SIP is emergent, there should be way to know 
how increasing or decreasing a given "setting" of these parameters will 
affect the amount of SIP.

Note that I'm not saying that your prescriptions are wrong. I'm saying 
that if they're possible, then SIP is arguably not emergent.

Best,
Tozier
-----
Bill Tozier
[email protected]

"Never express yourself more clearly than you think"
   -- Niels Bohr


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