From 'Managing the Design Factory'

System Theory

 

A system is a group of coupled components. The value of a system exceeds the value of its component parts. For example, when you combine two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom you get water. Water is a system. By vreating this system you have created properties that did not exist in the original components. At room temperature oxygen and hydrogen are gases, whereas water is a liquid. When the new properties are desirable, they create new value. What caused this change in value? The cause lies in the relationships between the elements of the system, in this case the bonds between the atoms.

 

Because a system has properties that are different than amy of its components, if follows that we connot predict the behavior of a system simply by understanding the behavior of its components. This is an important general principle for product developers. It implies that we will only be able to verify system-level behavior by testing at the system level, not by simply testing individual components.

 

시스템 이론

하나의 시스템은 다수의 컴포넌트로 형성된다. 한 시스템의 가치는 그 시스템 내의 모든 컴포넌트 요소의 가치를 초과한다. 예를 들어 당신이 두 개의 수소 원자와 하나의 산소 원자를 합치면 물을 얻게 된다. 물은 하나의 시스템이다. 이런 시스템을 만들어 내는 것을 통해 당신은 원래 컴포넌트에 존재하지 않았던 속성을 만들었다. 상온에서 산소와 수소는 가스이다. 반면에 물은 액체이다. 그 새로운 속성들이 바람직할 때 그들은 새로운 가치를 창조하게 된다. 가치에서 이러한 변화가 생긴 원인은 무엇일까? 원인은 그 시스템의 요소들 사이의 관계에 있다. 이 경우 그 원자들 사이의 결합이 그 원인이다.

하나의 시스템은 그 컴포넌트와는 다른 속성을 가지고 있기 때문에 우리가 단순히 그 컴포넌트들의 행동을 이해한다고 해서 시스템의 동작을 예측할 수 없다는 결론이 나온다. 이것은 제품 개발자를 위한 중요한 일반 원리이다. 이것은 우리가 그냥 개별 컴포넌트를 테스팅하는 것이 아닌 시스템 수준의 테스팅을 통해 시스템 수준의 동작을 검증할 수 밖에 없을 것이라는 사실을 암시한다.