Re: Dec 5th 463 Update

We all agree that working on "ancient" machinery is complex, and steam equipment is complex, so 463 is complexity squared. The question is whether you simply throw up your hands, or look for known ways to deal with complexity of any type.

I won't characterize other not fully enthusiastic posts, but mine are on based on the knowledge that there exist modern tools (I believe even Microsoft sells one theze daze) which could be used to provide much better information with respect to complex projects, and I am firm belief that you can never have too much information (of course, I am a long-time developer in the information industry, so I could be a tad biased), partly because it enables the best-possible way to navigate through complexity.

For example, at one time I was involved in developing a new air traffic control system. Nearly half the team was in Los Angeles, roughly half the team was in west-suburban Boston, and our tiny group was in Indiana. Submitting progress estimates was a bother, but every week the guy in overall command had the clearest-possible picture of where this enormously-complex project was. On several occasions he saw that there was some slack in our branch, so he would transfer work to us from one of the other teams to even out the load, thereby moving the completion date a few days closer.

My interest in this is no different than an expert welder having opinions, based on years of experience, of how they could provide higher quality work or provide the same quality in less time or at less cost. If people want to ignore this, that is their issue.