This is a nice metaphor that should become widely known and discussed!
It can be applied to general management and administration was well as software engineering. Organizational procedures tend towards complexity over time: everyone is involved in 'improving' systems by creating new procedures, and soon enough a new person is needed to deal with or manage the increasingly complex procedures. This is a well known micro economic phenomenon. It's hard to simplify and streamline and so being aware of the tendency towards brittle rube goldberg machines is a useful concept indeed, should become Amazon's 17th management principle.
This is a nice metaphor that should become widely known and discussed!
It can be applied to general management and administration was well as software engineering. Organizational procedures tend towards complexity over time: everyone is involved in 'improving' systems by creating new procedures, and soon enough a new person is needed to deal with or manage the increasingly complex procedures. This is a well known micro economic phenomenon. It's hard to simplify and streamline and so being aware of the tendency towards brittle rube goldberg machines is a useful concept indeed, should become Amazon's 17th management principle.