Thinking About Thinking
The 100th episode! Diana Montalion teaches us about Systems Thinking and why it matters for those of us building software in an increasingly complex world.
From a Bookstore to Systems Thinking
As a kid, Diana had the feeling that she loved the wrong things. We discussed how she discovered computers but didn't embrace them for a long time. Diana explained how she wanted to become a writer, moved to Montana, and opened a bookshop. We talked about rediscovering programming,and how she finally went all-in, moved to Austin, TX, and became a systems expert.
Systems Thinking
Diana Montalion shares how we think in terms of systems to accommodate for what we want as users, depending on the context we’re in.
It requires a way of thinking we’re not used to: systems thinking, or non-linear thinking. But doing so and adapting the software we create, can open up opportunities that weren’t there before.
Nonlinear Thinking
We are used to linear thinking – but really nonlinear thinking and systems thinking is what helps in a lot of modern challenges around software architecture. Diana Montalion is an expert on these subjects and applies them to software architecture regularly. She will tell us how nonlinear thinking helps with software architecture and why it is important.
Author Interview
Diana Montalion is the author of the Leanpub book Writing as Thinking: Practices for Technology Professionals. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Diana about her background and her career, becoming a systems architect, the nature of non-linear systems thinking, and how writing can help you learn how to think differently.
APIs in a Nonlinear World
In this episode, Mike and Matt are joined by Mentrix Group founder Diana Montalion. They discuss the relationship between APIs, software architecture, and non-linear thinking, as well as the most powerful ways that non-linear, systems, and pattern thinking can be applied in the context of digital transformation.
Systems Thinking
What is Systems Thinking? Vaughn and Diana discuss how this form of thinking can help software architects. Includes cat herding, metacognition and a few shared personal experiences.
Building Trust
In this episode you can hear Diana Montalion and Andrei talk about partnering with people who are good at covering your blind spots, the process of structuring change and the essential quality called trust.
“If a factory is torn down but the rationality that produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory.” — Robert Pirsig.
There is an underlying skillset the nourishes and supports our ability to practice DDD or any approach that challenges traditional “power” structures. In this workshop, we’ll focus on that skillset.
Learn to practice argumentation – reasoning systematically in support of an idea, action, or theory. It’s the foundational skillset for architects who are navigating uncertainty, and… it works!
Architecture is a technology-agnostic skill set. As the relational complexity of software increases, we need, more than ever, smart architecture.
A keynote to open the (Architectural) Decision Making Gathering open space.
The Agile mindset I experienced early in my career is integral to architecting modern systems.
The skills high-performant Agile teams taught me have scaled to be integral skills for modern architects.
Our thinking designs our architecture. Scaling up our linear thinking cannot resolve systems challenges. We need to shift to systems thinking.