Emergent Failure Modes and What to Do about Them
Steven D. Harris, Jennifer M. Narkevicius · INCOSE International Symposium · 2016
Abstract This paper sets out to identify a means to mitigate the effects of unpredictable failures in complex systems. It outlines a formal analysis of complex systems that focuses on emergent system dynamics, some of which may be failure modes that are impossible to predict. The mathematical basis for the analysis, and some real‐world implications of the mathematics are introduced. From that same formal analysis, the paper identifies specific characteristics of system architecture to mitigate the risk of emergent failure modes. The paper concludes with an approach to mitigating the effects of EFM predicated on a principle‐based process architecture called intelligent control theory.