Laura Nolan at StaffPlus London 2023
summary
Explains concrete methods — Energy Barrier perspective, causal loop diagrams, and hierarchical task analysis — applied to distributed systems with real examples: a CLI that deleted a Google CDN rack, and a bit flip that made a node report exabytes. Shows how System Dynamics / EAST-BL find where to intervene and which controls actually stop cascades: rate limits, undo paths, zoning/permissions, rebuild automation, added delays and local verification to prevent runaway replication. Includes diagrams to document control and management flows.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Systems thinking foundations
- 3:06Complex systems in distributed computing
- 6:39Energy barriers perspective
- 8:01Causal loop analysis
- 13:15Hierarchical task analysis
- 18:33Invisible control planes
- 19:35Systems thinking tools
- 21:41Key takeaways
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