The Importance of Structured Methods
The phrase ‘structured methods’ has been appropriated by the computer world to describe software systems that analyze and manipulate data. The phrase is far too resonant, too far reaching to be confined to a very technical and specialized arena. Structured methods, in the opinion, should be taken out of its niche and placed at the disposal of a wider audience.
When faced with a challenge in nearly any field of endeavor it can be daunting to begin the task. You know what you want to achieve; you have an idea about the end result, but you cannot see the steps in involved in getting to that final point.
This is where methodology is important ? the notion of how something is done. Beyond methodology, and more useful is having a structured method.
One simple example of a structured method is a flow chart. It is a top-down flow of actions. Each time a decision is made a new part of the flow chart is entered, and the process is completed when the bottom line is reached. A flow chart directs action and makes sure things are done in the right order. Below is an example of a flow chart in relation to the process of software development.
As you can see a flow chart simplifies, clarifies and makes a process easy to follow. It also makes sure everyone can follow the steps in the process. It is a great example of a structured method.
Mathematics is heavily influenced by the notion of structured methods. The great mathematicians of the past have striven to find structured methods for acquiring information. This type of structured method is usually called an equation. For example, if you want to find out the area of a circle you measure the radius and apply it into the equation:
Area = Radius * Radius * π
Without this structured method known as an equation it is virtually impossible to find the area of a circle.
One of the key components of structured methods is making it very clear what you want to achieve. Once this is known it requires creative thinking and plenty of research to ‘work back’ to the start point and work out all the intermediate steps.
An interesting analogue to this, and another structured method, is reverse engineering. It is taking the finished article and dismantling it to see how it is made, and then re-assembling the parts to see if the final re-assembled article is the same as the original item. This is a backwards ? forwards approach that has been very successful over the last decade or so, especially in the field of copying (legally or illegally) technology. The structured method for legally copying technology would involve a structured method something like this:
- Dismantle.
- Reassemble.
- Check if item is working ? if yes then go to 4). If no then go to 2).
- Identify part or parts that that can be changed so as to make final item legally different to original.
- Make parts identified in 4).
- Apply new parts and test. If works then end. If doesn’t work go to 4).
This is the structured method that the Japanese, and now the Chinese use to build better cars, computers etc. and to steal market share from America and Europe.
In the early part of the Twenty-first Century we have become more aware than ever of the need to analyze what we are doing. Not just to do, but to look at the process of how we do. It is a meta outlook, a growing self-realization. It is also vital to maintaining the acceleration of knowledge that we are currently enjoying in many fields of inquiry.
The articles contained in www.structuredmethods.com do not pretend to shine a light on the truth, to reveal Nobel Prize worthy formula. Rather they are designed to show trends, to give pointers, to detail know-how. In others words here you will find pieces of the puzzle that might help you to derive your own structured method that is adequate and sufficient for solving the problem you have.