The Informed Life Jeff Sussna on Cybernetics
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Aug 4, 2019 
Jeff Sussna, an IT consultant and author with a liberal arts background, offers a fresh outlook on digital transformation. He discusses the significance of cybernetics in contemporary design and DevOps, emphasizing adaptability and feedback in complex systems. Jeff shares insights on ethical responsibilities in interconnected design and reflects on how the Apollo 1 tragedy reshaped project management practices. He highlights the transformative power of failure for personal growth, urging organizations to embrace uncertainty and align with agile methodologies.
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Information As Contextual Feedback
- Cybernetics reframes information as context-dependent feedback about gaps between actual and expected states.
- Its core is adaptive control: listening and responding rather than issuing fixed commands.
Cybernetics As Computing's Root
- Cybernetics is the origin of many computing and information concepts we use today, including the root of 'cyber-'.
- It connects information theory, computing, and how we design and manage systems.
Goals Can Change During Control
- Cybernetics implies circular causality where objectives can change as systems interact with their environment.
- Practices like pivoting in Lean Startup reflect that adaptive, non-linear view of goals.