Hence, they become less alert to problem signals. Currently, the system is complex enough that no one person understands all of its inner workings. When asked who was responsible for solving one major outage, respondents could only identify the team, not the individual. The term system comprehensibility means the extent to which it is possible to understand how a system works. Operations people pride themselves on their ability to diagnose failures and bring the complicated system back on-line in very few minutes.
Operators enjoy their jobs, and feel excited by the challenge of keeping the system running.
These three potential negative effects must be considered within the context of how the system is kept running today. When asked who is essential to keeping the system running, respondents answered with long lists of people and functions. Diagnosing and fixing the system requires a large virtual network of specialists. The specific system problem determines whose expertise is required. This means that management is completely dependent on the cooperation of numerous expert employees to keep the system running.