A possible explanation for

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A possible explanation for Murphys Law

• Mr Paul Harris

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Murphys Law

• Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, at the
  worst possible moment and in the worst possible
  way.

• OTooles Comment Murphy was an optimist!
• Harris Corollary solving any problem
  immediately creates at least two more problems.

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Harris Law

• The harder you push any system the more unstable
  it becomes and the more management it requires

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Examples for Illustration

• Engines
• F1 vs family car
• Thrashed car vs old lady car
• Your own body
• Sensible vs Workaholic
• Top athlete vs Joe Average
• Cycling
• Mavericks puncture rate vs Ys puncture rate
• Our Back Yard

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Our Back Yard
Pushed by dogs, flooding
No dogs or flooding
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Types of Systems

• Many systems need some management to operate
  stably
• too little or too much pushing causes problems.
  
• e.g. the human body
• Other systems respond linearly
• more management gives better results, up to a
  point.
• e.g. a sports team
• Some systems should be left alone
• any management decreases results
• e.g. wilderness

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Conclusions

• Harris law appears to apply in a wide range of
  situations and
• provides a basis for developing more robust
  systems
• Some systems can be pushed by both increasing
  and decreasing inputs, both of which require more
  management to return the system to a stable
  state.
• This stable state is not necessarily at optimum
  performance. (it depends on your criteria!)