Learning to See
The Hunt for Organizing Principles
by Bryan Coffman
A major tool in mankind’s quest for insight is the ability to uncover principles that organize bodies of knowledge about systems in ways that reveal their underlying patterns. These patterns show how these systems are structured, how they work and what behaviors they produce. This insight enables us to use the system to add more value to our lives and the lives of those around us. For example, the organizing principles of electricity and magnetism unlocked the door to a host of value-adding innovations.
Four types of organizing principles are defined: the common thread, the weak signal, the map of key concepts and the map of how the system works. A three-stage generic process for uncovering the weak signals is presented, followed by a more detailed six-stage process. The process can be entered at any stage and the user can move through the process in most any order they feel makes sense. The sequencing presented in the paper is merely suggestive. The stages include selecting the scope for investigation; exploring within the scope and outside of the scope as well; selecting interesting concepts; linking the concepts and building the model of the organizing principle; building the story and adding quantification; and testing. The paper concludes with a table of questions for use in each stage.
Contents
- Finding Patterns that Yield Insights
- The Quest for Insight
- Types of Organizing Principles
- The Process Through Which Organizing Principles Emerge
- Generic Process: Immerse, Incubate, Insight
- A Simple Process for Finding Organizing Principles
- Stage by Stage
- Table of Questions by Stage
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