Learning Systems Thinking

Chapter 9. Pattern Thinking

No pattern is an isolated entity. Each pattern can exist in the world, only to the extent that is supported by other patterns: the larger patterns in which it is embedded, the patterns of the same size that surround it, and the smaller patterns which are embedded in it.

Christopher W. Alexander et al., A Pattern Language (Oxford)

I confess, I am a pattern thinker by nature. When I catch a cold, I think about the factors that contributed to getting sick. Have I been stressed or overtired? Was I exposed to groups of people or someone sick? I compare my symptoms to colds I’ve had in the past and to not-colds like seasonal allergies or Covid. I research, and by “research” I mean Google. Are there new, better treatments available? Would my symptoms benefit from a doctor’s visit? What has helped me get well in the past? I alter my schedule to accommodate a few days of recovery.

Then…I try to “just power through!” My longstanding reactive pattern to getting sick is to ignore it, despite being fully aware of the inevitable outcome. Like the Friday afternoon, early in my software engineering career, when I was brain-foggingly sick and didn’t want to admit it. I pushed a small JavaScript change to production that broke the entire e-commerce process.

I use viruses as an example because they are a good example of systemic patterns.

The application of complex ...