No Kludge
As I explain in this prior blog post about complexity; a kludge is an engineering/computer science term that defines what is best described as a workaround or quick-and-dirty solution that is typically clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend and hard to maintain; but it gets the job done. The nautical term for a kludge is jury rig. By contrast, elegance is beauty that shows unusual effectiveness, grace, and simplicity.
Actions have consequences. No action, inaction, is a type of action. While a new paradigm of accountancy is very likely inevitable;
Things like "starting at the end of the chain" and "semantic fragmentation" and the "integration hairball" that now exists were problems in the past and have resulted in many, too many, accountants being what amounts to "data janitors" and "transaction chasers"; they don't need to be problems going forward. But what modern accountancy will look like, while pretty much inevitable it is not predetermined.
This blog post, The Vision, outlines my vision for modern accountancy. And the blog post, Rethinking the Financial Report: the Model Driven Financial Statement, is more focused on the general purpose financial statement but those same ideas can be applied to accounting and audit working papers or financial analysis models.
At the core of modern accounting will be a new type of spreadsheet, I see this as a "special purpose logical spreadsheet for accountants". Core to that new type of electronic spreadsheet is what I refer to as the "information block". The information block, which is described by XBRL International's Open Information Model (OIM), OMG's Standard Business Report Model (SBRM), and my Seattle Method; will ultimately become a global open standard if it cannot already be considered a standard.
The information block is a new medium for exchanging information. That medium can be consumed by humans or by software agents acting on behalf of humans. The reduction of system "friction" will be profound. When implemented correctly, a virtuous cycle can result.
Imagine a human and an "artificial mind" interacting within a single common ecosystem, a complete system. That common ecosystem creates a shared conceptualization and has theories, knowledge, reasoning, governance (i.e. curation, checks and balances, scrutiny). Knowledge is discernable because it is clearly specified. Knowledge is testable so that agreement can be confirmed. The knowledge is extensible, elastic, flexible. But there are guardrails or "bumpers" associated with that extensibility/elasticity/flexibility that keep both the machine and human within boundaries and on track. That discernable knowledge, a shared conceptualization or shared understanding for the "community of practice" or "area of knowledge" called accountancy, is represented in a form that is understandable by both a machine-based process but then from that computer-based representation, a human understandable representation is also be generated. Why? Because humans need to confirm that the machine-based representation is complete, consistent (e.g. free from contradictions), precise and accurate (e.g. properly reflects the beliefs of the community). Two different representations (one for machines, a different one for humans) can result in inconsistencies.
Sure, complexity will still exist; but only the inherent complexity. All the accidental complexity which could creep in is avoided. Inherent complexity will be embraced. Subject matter experts
Idealized design will be used. Lighthouse projects will show the way. Informatics, cybernetics, industrial engineering will drive this redesign. The final result could be elegant.
Sensemaking is the process of determining the deeper meaning or significance or essence of the collective experience for those within an area of knowledge. Sensemaking is performed by subject matter experts.
“The one who follows the crowd, will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find themselves in places no one has ever been before.” - Albert Einstein
Additional Information:
Comments
Post a Comment