added by Keely Adler and · updated 4mo ago
Against Optimization
- “Think of efficiency as a high-performance engine. Under perfect conditions, it delivers maximum power and minimum waste. However, that very efficiency makes it less robust. Highly efficient systems have no slack, no redundancy, and therefore no resilience and no spare capacity.” — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 26 March 2020
from 11: Post-traumatic urbanism and radical indigenism by Medium
Keely Adler added
- evolutionary organizations don’t just optimize for learning – they also optimize for flexibility. Flexible systems allow organizations to leverage learnings and make incremental improvements (constantly testing assumptions!).
from Evolutionary Organizations by orca.mirror.xyz
Keely Adler added
- As Fritjof Capra says: a machine can be controlled, a living system can only be disturbed. At best, we will find ways of carefully nudging a living system. According to Donella Meadows, we must find its leverage points, those pivots that allow us to influence system behavior. Most importantly: after each cautious inter- vention, we must patiently o... See more
from Understanding Living Systems
Phil Nguyen and added