CHANGELESSNESS, AND OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

摘要

The concern expressed in the paper is with a growing mismatch between a desire to achieve stable, dependable (i.e., fixed) systems yet a need to allow systems to change to meet the requirements of life in a dynamic environment. It is argued that systems, as they are presently defined and managed, are neither physically nor intellectually maintainable as fixed entities. Means to design and manage systems that can easily change, even embrace change, are urgently needed. There is precedence for how this can be attained. The problem area of environmental systems protection illustrates why this is needed as well as the dangers of not yet being able to meet the need. The same dilemma impedes the operation of many other systems.