This column, over the years, has had the theme that human-centered, model-based design is the most direct path to insight and innovation. The innovation diagram (Figure 1) shows the added importance of viability and sustainability, and also introduces the need to manage complexity. We are now surrounded by high-risk technological systems in all aspects of our lives. Is the potential for catastrophic failure inherent in the system itself, or in the way the system was designed? Charles Perrow, in his most relevant book, Normal Accidents (Princeton University Press, 1999), addresses this question and develops an explanation based on system characteristics.
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