CHAPTER 11
Thinking Systematically
All parts of the system must be constructed with reference to all other parts, since, in one sense, all the parts form one machine.
—THOMAS EDISON
INVENTIONS RARELY EXIST IN ISOLATION. No matter how clever the idea or great the implementation, an invention typically lives or dies depending on how well it can be integrated into a larger social and technological context. That context is made up of systems. Systems have many parts and join together many related inventions. We have multiple systems for transportation, systems for computing and telecommunications, systems for healthcare. We have systems for developing, processing, and delivering everything from food to pharmaceuticals to music. That’s why the ...
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