• Preface (First Driving Force)

  • Critical thinking is one of the fundamental spirits of science.
  • Why has science become the “first driving force” for human progress? Because a defining feature of science is its constant progression, i.e., the continuous refinement through critical thinking.
  • Science belongs to itself and its own reasoning—why? Why isn’t it subordinate to theology or philosophy? Because it is universal and independent. – There are uncertainties.

• Introduction

  • What is reductionism, and what problems does it entail?
  • What led to the emergence of complexity science?
  • Four perspectives on complex systems: information, computation, dynamics, chaos, and evolution.

• Chapter 1: What Is Complexity?

  • A brief introduction to complexity from various angles (with examples across different fields).

• Chapter 7: Measuring Complexity

  • Occam’s razor principle: “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.” Prefer simpler explanations unless more complex assumptions provide compelling evidence. The key point is, “If a complex assumption is chosen, it must provide sufficient justification for its validity.”
  • Experience is needed to determine what constitutes “simplicity.”

• Chapter 10: Cellular Automata

  • Complex systems in nature are decentralized. Each individual unit (e.g., cells, humans) operates independently.

• Chapter 13: How to Make Analogies

  • In Chapter 12, we observed how ant colonies search for food: the shortest path to the best food source becomes increasingly marked by strong pheromones, attracting more ants. However, at all times, some ants still follow weaker scent trails or randomly explore, which could lead to discovering new food sources. [Examples include ant colonies, immune systems, etc.]

• Summary

  • Continuous reflection is a universal logic for progress. This essay approaches complexity science from its core principles: what complex systems are and how they can be studied. Complex systems arise from a large number of independent individuals and exhibit emerging behaviors (properties), self-organization, and adaptability.
  • Are there universal laws? Not yet discovered.
  • Key models: cellular automata, genetic algorithms, neural networks, agent-based models.

Company Management Team

Clarify the product direction, boost employee confidence, and establish reasonable systems. The core lies in clearly defining what the product direction is and giving clear instructions to the product manager. Don’t just speak in empty words or clichés. Because if you do that, the direct issue will be that the products designed by the product manager will change frequently, no one will use them after release, etc.

Project Manager

• In project-oriented companies, a project manager’s work might involve more negotiation with clients. This requires a certain level of expertise in areas such as financial services or specific industry government projects. It also demands a focus on resource management—you’re primarily managing people (human resources) and controlling risks within the project. Both of these factors determine whether the project succeeds or fails. Human resource management must be clearly defined: what each person needs to accomplish every day or week should be reflected in the plan, and progress for everyone should be updated daily. Risk management involves having contingency plans. Anything uncertain carries risk, and because of that uncertainty, contingency plans are essential. For example, online data migration requires a contingency plan such as database backup.
• In product-oriented companies, a project manager’s core work remains resource management (not elaborated here). It also includes managing the relationships between iterative versions, particularly focusing on priority levels. This involves pre-assessing product requirements through cost analysis.

Product Manager

Design products, produce requirement documents, and create interaction diagrams. Interaction diagrams are the most visual representation of product ideas—how good a product manager’s requirements are largely depends on the completeness of these interaction diagrams. The definitiveness and logical integrity of requirement documents can’t realistically be expected to cover everything because no role can achieve that level of comprehensiveness. However, every use case must be clearly defined—don’t use ambiguous terminology even though it might give you room for flexibility. Any professional term should first be defined before being logically linked together to fulfill specific requirements.

• What is the definition of management?
  “Management can be broadly defined as leading and managing all organizations through activities that involve organizing, coordinating, and utilizing various human, financial, material, physical, knowledge-based, tangible assets, or other intangible resources (including planning, decision-making, organization, leadership, and control) to achieve organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner.”

• Why is this definition used?
  This definition falls under a descriptive definition. Its primary approach is to define the process with a goal-oriented perspective.

• What are some good approaches to management?

• Creating good rules, systems, or processes, as I personally understand them, is just one way of providing security in management. However, this is far from what constitutes good management.
• Motivating individuals by tapping into their fundamental drives, encouraging staff to actively and enthusiastically follow regulations. While regulations ensure compliance, they may not necessarily inspire willing and proactive participation in tasks.