The electrical metaphor is a powerful one, as evidenced that it effortlessly describes a sister of the OP problem, "Object-Relational Impedance Mismatch". Looking at the most compact expression of the problem - the electrical one, i.e. math - you start to wonder if the root cause of all these is scale(observer) vs speed vs signal.
Could it be expressed as a logical abstraction to this family of phenomenon: impedance matching; object-relational impedance; business system vs ERP?
For every "reference frame" (electrical, mechanical, software, database, system) an organization node (single developer, team, organization) might be in, there would be a sort of minimum beyond which no unit is discernible. As this unit grows, the risk of "impedance mismatch" grows, even if signal and velocity remain static. If signal and velocity ALSO grow, the probability of mismatch rapidly becomes 100%. Unlike in electronics, the actual physical size of the "carrier wave" is getting bigger[1].
Which, honestly, ok, this all sounds pretty damn obvious. Maybe that's why this is a solved problem in EE, but it's a forty-year-clusterpoop in ERP world. Could it be that the root cause, then, is nontechnical leadership? A PoliSci MS / MBA won't - or can't - see that larger systems necessarily have different signalling / flow, but they "think they can pull this off" because "airplanes and lawnmowers are basically the same thing" and "our culture is always our first product". Blop. Fail. Repeat for two generations, and here we all are.
[1] Which, hmmph, ok, that can happen in some specialized setups. But that's outside this sandbox.
MilStdJunkie|2 years ago
The electrical metaphor is a powerful one, as evidenced that it effortlessly describes a sister of the OP problem, "Object-Relational Impedance Mismatch". Looking at the most compact expression of the problem - the electrical one, i.e. math - you start to wonder if the root cause of all these is scale(observer) vs speed vs signal.
Could it be expressed as a logical abstraction to this family of phenomenon: impedance matching; object-relational impedance; business system vs ERP?
For every "reference frame" (electrical, mechanical, software, database, system) an organization node (single developer, team, organization) might be in, there would be a sort of minimum beyond which no unit is discernible. As this unit grows, the risk of "impedance mismatch" grows, even if signal and velocity remain static. If signal and velocity ALSO grow, the probability of mismatch rapidly becomes 100%. Unlike in electronics, the actual physical size of the "carrier wave" is getting bigger[1].
Which, honestly, ok, this all sounds pretty damn obvious. Maybe that's why this is a solved problem in EE, but it's a forty-year-clusterpoop in ERP world. Could it be that the root cause, then, is nontechnical leadership? A PoliSci MS / MBA won't - or can't - see that larger systems necessarily have different signalling / flow, but they "think they can pull this off" because "airplanes and lawnmowers are basically the same thing" and "our culture is always our first product". Blop. Fail. Repeat for two generations, and here we all are.
[1] Which, hmmph, ok, that can happen in some specialized setups. But that's outside this sandbox.