Connection Of Concerns

In a project which is to be successful one must deal with the identification of concerns and just how they relate, one to each other, and to the working out of the mechanisms ensuring that

• all are appropriately addressed at the right time
• with the right knowledge of inter-relationships and inter-dependencies
• knowledge of what if any effect the solution in one has on the solutions of others

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From SeparationOfConcerns:

Anyone can make lists of Concerns for someone else to solve. But Concerns should be localized. One should ask - is this something I should be concerned about, and can I do anything to deal with the concern. One in action dealing with a concern is doing something to reduce the number of concerns involved in a local situation or scene. It has been transformed from a concern to a concerted effort.

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When constructing a system which deals with a definable networkOfConcerns, one deals with both Separation (Grouping of SolutionSets?) and Connection (Inter-relating solutionSets).

In projects involving systemDesign, elaboration on each processingConcern must be a preliminaryConcern. The assigned entity (Person or team) responsible for this activity lays down the framework and prescribes the resourcesOrganizationAndManpower to be applied. To be identified from the list of concerns are those concerns which

• can be characterized and operated on in isolation and outside the knowledge of those isolated from them, which require no input, output or interfacing from without.
• have
  • oneWayInwardConnections from outsideConcerns
  • oneWayOutwardConnections to outsideConcerns
  • internalInteractiveConnectionsBetweenConcerns

Many failures can be traced to infrastructures which operate as though no one else is impacted by work which is done within units which clearly have dependencies and influences on other units.

So it is important in firstStepping to make sure that communication about these things occur through informal inter-actions during process steps and that should not wait until the end of a developmentStep to communicateProcessesAndStructures as formal releases, only to then discover that considerable re-work may be necessary to reconcile differing approaches to handling interrelationships and interdependencies. This often creates stressful working relationships and may eventually involveTheInterposition of an assignedArbitrator as to who will have to change what. It is better that leads of the separate efforts be in reliableOngoingCommunication about connectedConcerns. This should be a priorityTask.

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The following references will shed additional light:

• ConnectionOfConcerns
  • To Satisfy & Delight Your Customer: How to Manage for Customer Value
  • ... share responsibility for all qualities (features, functions, properties, and performance) beneficial to the customer
    • http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/sdyccontents.html
  • Systems Design
  • the subtle art and science of regulating systems, projects, and people in the most efficient and logical manner possible.
    • http://www.dorsethouse.com/subjects.html#systems
  • Systems Analysis
  • Organizations that build good software know that software is an R&D activity, not a production activity.
    • http://www.dorsethouse.com/subjects.html#analysis
  • Concerns in HyperSpace
  • The detailed structure of a concern space, and the flexibility with which its concerns can be used for modularization, will depend upon the mechanism(s) in use for achieving separation and integration of concerns.
    • http://www.research.ibm.com/hyperspace/ConcernSpaces.htm
  • Multi-Dimensional Concerns
  • It is appealing to think of many concerns as being independent or "orthogonal," but this is rarely the case in practice. It is essential to be able to support interacting concerns, while still achieving useful separation.
    • http://www.research.ibm.com/hyperspace/MDSOC.htm

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Related:

• ThereIsNoConstructionPhase
  • Envisioning is planning and design. Realizing is production and demonstration. These are clearly analogous to phases of design and construction.
• DesignIsNotaDevelopmentPhase
  • One quickly concludes that design is not a phase. It's an activity that transcends all of development. -- JimCoplien

HyperArtifacts is another way to connect concerns.

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Contributors: DonaldNoyes 20060824, 20080221.0111m06

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CategoryPlanning