A Patchwork of Contradictions and Confusions: Inside the Software Industry
Merrelyn Emery, 2023
In direct contradiction to a lot of the excited and exaggerated marketing about ‘agile’ which has swept the software industry, this analysis shows that far from being a positive contribution to either theory or practice, the agile movement has created an industry which is a mosaic of confusions, improbable organizational configurations and some plain bad practices. Based on misunderstandings of what people and organizations require for good functioning, the industry has emphasized control over coordination. Subsequently, many good intentions are not being fully realized and there are some very poor results for both individuals and their organizations. The industry is recoverable with an education in the design principles and redesign of the structural inadequacies.
Change, Resistance to It in the Software Industry and Overcoming It
Merrelyn Emery, 2023
This is the second report on the current state of the software industry. It deals with the first set of questions about recent changes in the industry, reservations about possibly moving to participative democratic organizations and ways in which to answer those reservations. This report should be read in conjunction with the first.”
Digital Technologies, the State of the Social Environment and the Human Mind – April 2023
Merrelyn Emery, April 2023
This short paper addresses two issues that have arisen with the current discussion of new forms of artificial intelligence, its effect if any on the extended social field and its effect on the human mind. While there is no doubt ‘Generative AI’ will have effects on the human condition, those currently under discussion may not be the main effects.
Report of Normality Survey
Merrelyn Emery, October 2023
Many thanks again to all the brave people who filled in the Normality questionnaire. As it turns out, your answers were not only informative but also suggested some productive ways ahead in this area of research. Certainly in Australia, those organizations which are working towards greater equality in general are usually using the direct approach which is to constantly direct attention towards the problem and advocating for its solution.
The results of the survey suggest that perhaps the indirect approach may be more productive. Putting the emphasis on what is actually Normal which are continua rather than the much shouted about dichotomies of male/female, black/white, gay/straight, old/young, is what most people actually recognize. When people eventually get used to seeing reports about how people are arranged along multiple continua which interact and variously affect their behaviour throughout their lives, the old static categories will increasingly look archaic and ridiculous. I think this is already happening to some degree but we can speed it along with better data. If anyone can lay their hands on a few thousand dollars to take this research further with a larger sample, please let me know.
Regional Strategies for Disaster Preparedness – Symposium EMCSR 2012
Merrelyn Emery, 2012
Bushfire season is well under way in Australia with lives and homes lost already. We all hope there will be no repeat of the Black Summer. This paper describes a strategy devised for the ACT which experienced a devastating firestorm in 2003. It can be applied and adjusted anywhere. During the writing of this paper, I also read the reports of the 2009 Victorian fires and the commonalities were remarkable. In some aspects, you could just change the dates and names and the same mistakes were being documented in the ACT and Victoria. Let us hope the bureaucratic structures that run our firefighting have learnt their lessons and are now working cooperatively with other emergency services across the country.
Contradictions at the Heart of America’s Democracy
Merrelyn Emery, May 2024
This brief analysis examines a recent contribution to our understanding of democracy in general and American democracy in particular at a critical time in its history. Robert Kagan asks whether Trump will destroy America’s democracy but this analysis shows that it is also being white anted from within, by contradictions and confusions built right into the heart of its democracy.