Paradigm: that’s important
It’s not a cookbook. This website, you may have noticed, is written in a rather detailed and explicit style. That is intended to efficiently convey the essential features of CSD to the reader, but, unfortunately, it may give the impression that practicing CSD is like following a cookbook recipe. Not so.
CSD is a paradigm. That is, it is a set of essential and general concepts that can be adapted to a wide range of specific and widely varied situations. The value of mastering CSD as paradigm is that you don’t have to invent or discover the necessary basics yourself when you need to devise a response to some particular issue. The paradigm tells you what is necessary so you can concentrate on adapting the necessities to the particular situation.
Furthermore, the CSD paradigm is a complete and internally consistent system. Whenever you implement a CSD project, construct the process as such. Don’t just grab random pieces and slap them together. Be sure you’ve chosen all the pieces needed to do the entire job and that they all fit together in a smoothly functioning whole.
The material in this website is, in a way, like a virtuoso pianist practicing scales or arpeggios. The purpose of that practice is not rehearsal for a performance of scales or arpeggios. It is to train the fingers so they are ready for the challenge of whatever performance the pianist may select to thrill the audience.
A paradigm is an abstraction. It is the amalgam of essential attributes shared in common among a wide class of conceptually related entities. Its value lies in enabling a new and unique member of the paradigm class to be crafted in response to a particular and unique need, unencumbered by whatever examples of the paradigm may already exist. It ensures that essential attributes are present in the new application while allowing freedom to adapt the specifics to the particular need. It avoids slavish imitation of previous examples which are most likely not suitable for the new application.
“Getting It” at the Paradigm Level
It is crucial that prospective practitioners of CSD “get it” at the paradigm level, so they may respond to any issue they encounter. However, it is very difficult, maybe impossible, to convey the total essence of any particular paradigm, including CSD, through any kind of concrete example or cookbook description. Nevertheless, in order to keep the material on this site fairly brief, clear and concise, the description of CSD on this site is unfortunately going to come across a bit “cookbooky.” “Getting” CSD as a paradigm means grasping the essence that lies behind the cookbooky description, and being able to apply the essential principles of CSD with discernment to any situation that might be encountered, no matter how far that situation may be from anything envisioned by the author of this site. Looking at it another way, the result of attempting to apply the cookbook version is likely to be successful for only a narrow range of issues where the fit of method to issue is good. Further, it is likely to get bogged down in a rigid and ineffective “by the book” style.
When doing a CSD project, touching all the bases is very important for maximizing the likelihood of success. Missed bases are open invitation to failure. That’s the reason for all the excruciating detail about CSD on this website.
However, “touching the bases” can mean very different things in different circumstances. That’s why the emphasis on CSD as a paradigm, not a cookbook. Knowing the appropriate level of rigor and formalism is executing CSD in different situations is an important skill for the CSD practitioner.
A pickup game played by neighborhood kids in the street with a tennis ball and broomstick has a very different standard for touching the bases than the 7th game of the World Series. In the neighborhood game it’s a good idea to allow 5-year-old Mikey an unlimited number of swings so he doesn’t strike out and run home crying. On the other hand, in the big-league game, the players, umps and coaches will hew very close to the line. Likewise, a small-scale CSD project of very localized significance can be carried out much more loosely than a major issue such as designing a national immigration policy.
So, what is it like to “get” the paradigm? As you explore the Muddlebuster site, read between the lines to intuit the essential concepts behind the words, and then use your imagination to envision how those essentials play out in the situation that concerns you. Have some questions always going in the back of your mind.
- “What’s the point?”
- Can you express the essential concepts in your own fresh language and images without just reciting what’s in the web site?
- Can you tailor the degree of formalism and detail needed in the project plan to suit the scope and complexity of the issue you are working?
A matter of style
A paradigm is never seen in its naked, unclothed essence. As a matter of necessity, it is always cloaked in the style of whoever is expressing the paradigm, and in terms relating to the particular situation. A paradigm can be instantiated in many, perhaps limitless, ways, and all of them are more or less equally valid as expressions of the paradigm. So how could anyone pick one of those expressions and say that it and it alone is the essence? And can one “get” the essence of the paradigm by taking in a wide range of examples and somehow intuiting what essence they all share?
The Muddle Buster’s professional background was engineering, so the style of this site tends toward dry and technical (sorry ’bout that). What if The Muddle Buster had been a poet, or explorer, or real estate developer? Which style might resonate better with you?
When, and if, you need and decide to be a practitioner of CSD, pick your own style. Pick one that you are comfortable with, and one appropriate for the issue that concerns you. You’ll be more effective.
And what about formalism?
“Formalism: the strict or rigid compliance with prescribed forms.”
Formalism is one of the tools needed with a CSD project. If your job is digging a hole, and it is a small one, a shovel will do and a backhoe would be overkill and probably make a mess of it. On the other hand, if it is a big job, the backhoe would be necessary and the shovel would be futile. Likewise with formalism; the tool should fit the job.
On a CSD project, formalism is a tool for keeping everyone focused on what needs to be done now, based on the foundation of what has been done so far. How much formalism is appropriate depends where a project is, on a scale of less to more, for factors such as:
- Scope of the problem and its solution
- Complexity of the problem and its solution
- Number and variety of participants, as individuals or organizations
- Degree that technical expertise is required: both level of expertise and variety of disciplines
- Level of contentiousness among stakeholders in the issue
- Degree to which results will be reviewed by external authority
As you explore this site, it may seem to you that The Muddle Buster favors more formalism rather than less. Don’t let that influence your judgement. Pick the degree of formalism appropriate for your project. Employ enough formalism to keep everything in sync, but no so much that it gets in the way.