Leverage Notes #11: Think With Black Boxes

There's too much complexity in the world to notice every detail. In that sense, perception is an ever-changing choice of filters and focuses. But there's value in simplifying the complex. It's a way for us to reason and comprehend the world around us at a functional level. And the functional level is most important because it describes how the system affects the world around us.

In engineering, there's a concept of black boxes. You can choose to represent a system by what it takes in (input) and what it produces (output). While this is an incomplete model, it's a useful one.

Suppose that you're looking for a TCP/IP stack for your embedded system. Instead of focusing on digging through the code of each third party solution, it would be quicker to use specifications for your selection. Focusing on what can be measured, like throughput, the rate at which packets are dropped, and memory usage, makes choosing a solution much easier. By thinking with black boxes, you didn't have to become a networking software expert to choose a solution. The time and energy you save can be spent on solving customer needs or building out a new product.

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