To do, or to help do, that is the question

Originally, as with my home-grown PDP11 Finite Difference models of aero-engines, my early years in IBM’s were focused on “doing” – designing engineering computing and CAD systems for IBM’s customers using IBM’s hardware and software products (remember the IBM6150 or IBM5080?).

But, as I've aged, I've discovered a greater passion – a desire not so much to “do these things”, but to reflect on how these things are done; to expose the thought processes and thinking models that enable good system’s design.  This led naturally to working with other “methodologists” (those who study the theory of methods) down the years in the development of IBM’s methods… E2E, ISD, WSDDM, SI/AD, GSM and now UMF; always with a focus on helping others understand how to think as a systems design engineers; specifically to "my" community of engineers focused on IT systems.