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created: 2020-06-01
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> *[[Structure must be earned]]!* #source/quote/my 

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Gall’s Law is a rule of thumb for systems design that states: 

> All complex systems that work evolved from simpler systems that worked. 

> [And conversely...] A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. 

So don't build unearned structure. Don't build walls in the desert. 

> Avoid costly structuring traps.

> [!NOTE]- Some links and content in this note have been removed.
> Because this is a vertical slice of my actual PKM system, I can't include everything in this vault and left out some notes and material for ease of navigation and understanding the concepts (rather than getting lost in the knowledge) as well as for privacy. 
>  
> Plus, it's okay to have some unlinked notes in your own vault. They won't all be built out at once.

If you want to build a complex system that works, you have to build a simpler system first, and then improve it over time. This is a major component of the [[Idea Emergence Levels]] in any LYT framework.

Put another way, the only structure that can work over time, is the structure that slowly emerges over time—validating its own existence through its successful use. 

Practically speaking, DO NOT start structuring your "ultimate" system in one fell swoop. It will fail you, because it will be fragile, because it wasn't forged in the fire of practical usage. You will waste time and enthusiasm—and could possibly burn out. 

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That said, you weren't born yesterday. You have lived many years of life, so even though your PKM digital structures may not all be "earned", you are also not starting from scratch.

### Related
Divergence, Emergence, Convergence, Complexity, Systems Thinking, Systems Theory

### Wiki
Examples: This law...can be used to explain the success of systems like the World Wide Web and Blogosphere, which grew from simple to complex systems incrementally, and the failure of systems like CORBA, which began with complex specifications. 

