Keeping our systems small and simple is a worthy goal, yet it is also one that most successful systems defy. Lehman’s laws of software evolution, and, in particular, continuing growth, captures the evolutionary pressure to add capabilities as systems are used and new demands or opportunities are perceived. Being able to cope with, and even harness, this increasing complexity raises the importance of dual design arenas: the design of systems and the design of the organization that creates and evolves systems.
