Irving Wladawsky-Berger

What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger

Complex systems, whether natural or engineered, are composed of many parts.  But it’s not the mere number of components that makes them complex.  After all, stones are composed of huge numbers of molecules, yet we would not consider them complex.  A truly complex system consists of many different kinds of parts, intricate organizations and highly different structures at different levels of scale.  Humans, bacteria, advanced microprocessors, modern airplanes, global enterprises, healthcare organizations and  urban environments are all examples of complex systems exhibiting these massive, heterogeneous, intricate characteristics. 

What makes these systems so complex?  Whether they were designed by humans or evolved in nature, why aren’t they simpler?  What purpose does this complexity serve? 

A few years ago I heard a very interesting talk addressing these questions by Cal Tech professor John Doyle.  The talk was based on a paper, Complexity and Robustness, which he co-authored with professor Jean Carlson from UC Santa Barbara. 

According to Carlson and Doyle, you can find very simple biological organisms in nature, and you can design very simple objects.  The key ingredient you give up is not their basic functionality, but their robustness - that is, the ability to survive, for biological organisms, or to perform well, for engineered objects - under lots of different conditions, including the failures of individual components.  Robustness implies the ability to adapt and keep going in spite of a rapidly changing environment.

Fifty Years of Memories

On June 1 and 2 I was in Chicago to participate in the 50th high school reunion of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Class of 1962.  I have not attended previous class reunions, and was not sure I would attend the 50th reunion either when I first heard that it was being planned.  But, as it turned out, this became an event that I’ve been looking forward to for the last six months.  And, the actual reunion surpassed my expectations, turning out to be a very positive experience. 

The U of C Lab Schools was, and still is, one of the top private schools in the country.  Almost all its graduates go on to college.  Our class had an interesting mix of very sharp students, including children of faculty members and others associated with the U of C; kids from nearby fairly well-to-do, mostly Jewish neighborhoods; and other students throughout the Chicago area attracted by the Lab School’s academic reputation.  The school has long been known for the diversity of its student population, being the first private school in Chicago to admit African American students.  Our class included a number of black students, mostly from middle/upper-middle class families.  In this mix, a Cuban-born, Jewish kid fit right in.

Blogging and Personal Feelings

In November of 2008, Andrew Sullivan published an excellent article in The Atlantic, - Why I Blog, - in which he discussed the unique characteristics of a blog by reminding us what a web log shares in common with its namesake, the ship log.

“In journeys at sea that took place before radio or radar or satellites or sonar, these [ship] logs were an indispensable source for recording what actually happened.  They helped navigators surmise where they were and how far they had traveled and how much longer they had to stay at sea. . .  A log provided as accurate an account as could be gleaned in real time.”

“As you read a log, you have the curious sense of moving backward in time as you move forward in pages - the opposite of a book.  As you piece together a narrative that was never intended as one, it seems - and is - more truthful.  Logs, in this sense, were a form of human self-correction.  They amended for hindsight, for the ways in which human beings order and tidy and construct the story of their lives as they look back on them.  Logs require a letting-go of narrative because they do not allow for a knowledge of the ending.  So they have plot as well as dramatic irony - the reader will know the ending before the writer did.”

“Anyone who has blogged his thoughts for an extended time will recognize this world.  We bloggers have scant opportunity to collect our thoughts, to wait until events have settled and a clear pattern emerges.  We blog now - as news reaches us, as facts emerge.  A reporter can wait - must wait - until every source has confirmed.  A novelist can spend months or years before committing words to the world.  For bloggers, the deadline is always now.  Blogging is therefore to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive.  It is, in many ways, writing out loud.”

I have now been blogging since May of 2005.  As Andrew Sullivan observes about blogs in general, my blog is a record of my changing interests over that time span, of the key items that were catching my attention, and how I felt about them at the time.  Looking back at the many blogs I have posted, I am reminded of some of the major events of the past seven years.

My Upcoming 50th High School Reunion

I graduated high school in 1962 from the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, usually referred to as U-High.  This June we will be celebrating our 50th class reunion, and, this being 2012, some classmates set up a social media group site that any member of the class of '62 can link to and participate in an online conversation.

Through the years, I have been involved with the University of Chicago (U of C), which I attended after high school for both college and graduate school.  In particular, I have been a member of the Physical Sciences Division Visiting Committee for years.   But, I have not been involved with U-High, perhaps because I only went there for my junior and senior years.  I have not attended previous class reunions, and was not sure if I would attend the 50th reunion when I first heard about it.  But I joined the online group site, as a way to learn about high school classmates which I have not heard from in almost fifty years. 

The group discussions started slowly, but after a few days, I was really looking forward to the postings.  It has proved to be fascinating, not only because of what I am learning about my classmates' lives, but because the discussions of teachers, neighborhood places, and class events have brought to mind many long forgotten memories.  I feel like a character in a coming-of-age film, who as an older man, is reminded of an important period of his youth, which he then proceeds to narrate.

IBM's Centennial

IBM is turning 100 years old on June 16.  The company is commemorating its 100th anniversary with a year-long set of activities around the world.  It is using the opportunity to reach out to many of its constituents in business, government and academia and engage with them in a variety of celebratory events, such as seminars and conferences.  In addition, IBM Chairman Sam Palmisano is inviting all members of its extended family - employees, partners, retirees, families and friends - to pledge at least eight hours of community service during 2011.

If you look at the fast changing IT industry, it is hard enough to find companies that have survived thirty years, let alone one hundred.  It is even harder to find a company that has survived this long, is in great competitive shape and continues to be among the leaders in its industry.  So, as The Economist observed in 1100100 [100 in binary] and Counting in its June 9, 2011 issue:      

“The firm’s centenary is an occasion to reflect on many things digital, but one question stands out: why is IBM still alive and thriving after so long, in an industry characterised perhaps more than any other by innovation and change?  This is not just of interest to business historians.  As IBM enters its second century in good health, far younger IT giants, such as Cisco Systems, Intel, Microsoft and Nokia, are grappling with market shifts that threaten to make them much less relevant.”

Sleepovers, Collective Intelligence and Related Subjects

Amy Chua is an American born, ethnic Chinese professor at the Yale Law School.  She recently wrote a book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother about her efforts to give her two daughters a traditional, strict Chinese upbringing.  She also published an article on January 8 in the Wall Street Journal, Why Chinese Mothers are Superior, summarizing her parenting philosophy:

“A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids.  They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too.  Well, I can tell them, because I've done it.  Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do: attend a sleepover; have a playdate; be in a school play; complain about not being in a school play; watch TV or play computer games; choose their own extracurricular activities; get any grade less than an A; not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama; play any instrument other than the piano or violin; not play the piano or violin.”

Professor Chua’s book and WSJ article attracted a lot of attention, with people arguing the pros and cons of the demanding Eastern parenting model with its emphasis on achievement, versus the permissive Western model that many would say emphasizes self-esteem instead of actual accomplishments.  Then, on January 17, NY Times columnist David Brooks jumped into the fray with his own take on the controversy in an OpEd with the provocative title: Amy Chua is a Wimp.

Brooks said that he had received many e-mails denouncing Chua’s strict parenting methods.  Her article and book play right into America’s fear of national decline, in particular the fear of being economically left behind by the much harder working Chinese.  But then he writes about Chua:  “I believe she’s coddling her children.  She’s protecting them from the most intellectually demanding activities because she doesn’t understand what’s cognitively difficult and what isn’t.”

Julia Child, Innovation, and the Open Mind

I just saw Julie and Julia on DVD.  The film intertwines two stories.  The main story starts in 1948 when Julia Child and her diplomat husband Paul arrived in Paris, and traces her transformation from recently married housewife looking for something to do, to the legend she became after the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 1961.

The second story focuses on Julie Powell, who in 2002, spent a year cooking her way through all 524 recipes in Mastering the Art, chronicled her saga in a blog that quickly gained a large following, and later wrote a book about her experience: Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.

I enjoyed the movie, especially the sections on Julia and Paul Child, masterfully portrayed by Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci.  It reminded me why Julia Child has been one of my personal heroes ever since my student days at the University of Chicago in the 1960s.

The Complex Chemistry between Brands and Customers - Some Personal Experiences

People have very complex relationships with companies and the products and services they offer.  Businesses, and those involved in non-profit activities like foundations, the arts, charity and health care, as well as those offering entertainment, including sports teams, spend considerable time, energy and funds on their brands - "the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to the product [that] serves to create associations and expectations around it."

The relationship between a brand and its customers is a complex one indeed, full of emotional connections and chemistry.  And like any relationships involving emotions, associations and expectations, they need to be carefully nurtured.  Once established, brand relationships can be extremely helpful to a business - especially if the company runs into serious problems in the marketplace.  I am convinced that the close relationship we had established in IBM with our loyal customer base was a key factor that helped us survive the near-death experience we faced in the early 1990s.

Let me illustrate this complex chemistry by discussing some of my personal experiences with brands.  Given the time of year, let me start with a subject that some may consider frivolous - baseball.

Exorcising Baseball Demons

Well, the 2005 baseball season is now over and the Chicago White Sox won the World Series, beating the Houston Astros in four straight games.  I like how Tyler Kepner put it in his front page story in today's New York Times:  "The baseball gods were merciless once, inflicting decades of sorrow on a franchise for one fateful mistake."  And then he went on to say "All these years, it turns out the gods have a heart after all."  Last year it was the Boston Red Sox  that exorcised their demons after not winning the Series since 1918.  The White Sox demons lasted a bit longer - they last won the World Series in 1917.

Mid-September Baseball Update

On the flight from Tokyo to New York, I watched a very cute movie, Fever Pitch, which is basically a romantic comedy about the budding relationship of Lindsey and Ben, played by Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon.  Ben is a rabid Boston Red Sox fan with season tickets to two very good seats in Fenway Park which he inherited from his uncle.  During baseball season, his whole life is consumed with  the Red Sox, and the movie takes place around the 2004 season when the Red Sox miraculously beat the Yankees on the way to winning the World Series.  The complications in the relationship between Lindsey and Ben revolve around Ben's conflicts between his love for Lindsey and his love for the Red Sox.

Hits and "Misses"

I recently read in a news story that movie theater box office receipts have been lower this summer than they were last year.  The debate over the causes of the box-office decline revolves around whether it is because movies are just not as good this year, or whether people now prefer to watch DVD's at home, or some other reason.

Little Movies

Summer is usually the season for blockbuster movies, which usually feature lots of action, special effects, heroic characters, superstar actors, huge budgets, and so on.  I watch my share of these movies, enjoying some a lot (e.g., Batman Begins), others less so.

But, in the last few years, I have increasingly enjoyed watching what are often referred to as "Little Movies."

China's Fifth Generation Film Directors

I recently attended a very interesting lecture on Chinese-American relations by Steven Weber, professor of political science and director of the Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley.  Professor Weber's central point is that the Sino-American relationship is now central to the health of the global political economy, but it is not a healthy relationship and needs to be carefully managed, especially when it comes to three critical areas:  currency, energy, and property rights.  You can read what Steve Weber says on Chinese-American relations in his new blog.

Baseball and The Broken Heart

I think that many of us first learn about broken hearts through baseball.

One of the earliest memories of my childhood was when my team, Almendares lost a game to their fierce rivals, Habana, in the Cuban baseball winter league.  I was about 3 at the time, and still remember being very sad and crying.    

A friend and colleague from Germany, who knows little about baseball, told me that when he was on assignment in the US a while back, he once saw his then young children crying in front of the TV and asked them what was the matter.  The Yankees lost, they said.  My friend was baffled.

Pedro, the Jedi Master

Reggie Jackson is the last baseball player that I remember capturing the imagination of New York, the way Pedro Martinez is now doing.

Reggie came to New York to play for the Yankees in 1977, and proceeded to take the town by storm.  He craved, and performed at his best under the intense pressure that New York City abounds in.  His biggest feat is the 3 consecutive home runs in 3 consecutive swings that he hit in the sixth game of the 1977 World Series to help the Yankees beat the Dodgers and win the Series.  He told everybody that they would name a candy bar after him, . . . and indeed they did, the  Reggie Bar.  He feuded with everyone, from manager Billy Martin to George Steinbrenner, the controversial principal owner of the Yankees .  But in the clutch, "Mr. October", as Reggie was nicknamed because of his outstanding performance in five World Series, was the man to go to.

Out of the Blue: Unexpected Joys

I would like to continue the discussions on how the Internet has enriched my life, in particular when it comes to enjoying films.  A few years ago I started using Netflix, a really good Internet DVD rental service, which offers a huge collection of DVD's of all kinds, from recent releases to classics to foreign movies.  Netflix encourages its members to rate films, both films you rent from them as well as any other films you have watched, giving them from 1 star (hated it)  to 5 stars (loved it).  It then uses your ratings and compares them to the ratings from all other members, to recommend movies you are likely to love.  This is similar to the book recommendations from Amazon and other Internet sites.

Sometime last February, while in London, I went to the netflix.com site for a minute to check on a movie.  As usual, the first Netflix web page had a few personalized recommendations.  One in particular was a movie called Blue, which I had never heard of, by a Polish director, Krzysztof Kieslowski, whom I had also never heard of.  The movie had a very high rating, between 4 and 5 stars.  I read comments about Blue from Netflix members at the site, and checked with some of the professional reviewers I trust the most such as Roger Ebert and James Berardinelli, and they all recommended the move very highly.  I also learned that Blue was part of a trilogy, Blue, White and Red, based on the colors of the French flag, and that they were the last films made by Kieslowski, who died in 1996 two years after Red came out.  I was intrigued and put Blue at the top of my Netflix queue, meaning that it would be the next movie they ship me.

The Internet and Films

I often think -- even after working in the area for more than ten years -- that there is something almost magical about the wonders of the Internet and World Wide Web.  I can rhapsodize about how the Internet has transformed business, society and our personal lives, and often do in formal talks and any other opportunity I have. But we all know that real "magic" isn't theoretical but personal. Take the impact that the Internet has had on my pleasure in watching films.