Engineering and the Word "And"

Engineers are taught that because you understand "one" and you must therefore understand "two" because one and one make two. But engineers forget that you must also understand the word "and."

Where "and" provides the connection between "one" and "two" -- the connection, or linkage, or interface of one system to another. From one idea to another, one theory to another, one person to another - - something about "and" makes one and one become two. From one subsystem or two, or three, or 100 subsystems as they combine, connect, and link to produce a higher level system. As our complexity in the systems world grows from public infrastructure to information technology to medical care delivery - - engineers must be able to embrace a holistic vision. They must be able to focus on the interconnections between subsystems and components, taking special note of the interfaces among the various parts. They must be comfortable with systems synergy - - where two or more parts of a system work together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the parts independently.

Engineers need to understand the systems definition of the word "and" - - from connecting, adding to, also, continuation, consequence, condition, but, comparing - - to detail. The word "and" may come from Old English - - but the word has an important place in solving many of our modern complex system problems. You want any system to be more than the sum of its parts. Where biological, social, and technological systems can all exhibit adaptive, dynamic, goal-seeking, self-preserving, and sometimes evolutionary behavior. We need to be thinking in terms of "one and one makes four." Engineers should understand that the magic behind the systems synergy and transformational act is what we mean by and how we manage the word "And."