If you want to understand a single cell, molecular biology is your friend. But if you want to understand a cell group and their interaction, division, amassment, and life cycle, you’d better look at the cells themselves, not just the molecules. If you want to understand how a tissue, such as muscle works, you need an even higher view to study the tissue as a whole, not just as a bunch of cells. And certainly not as a bunch of molecules.

If you want to understand an organ, say, the brain, which Woody Allen said was his second favorite organ, you have Neurology. Furthermore, if you want to understand how an individual behaves, you have Psychology. (Thank you, Dr. Freud).

Yes, you have different abstraction levels to understand each one of the layers. You are not going to predict whether a person will be impacted by his childhood memories by studying his molecules.

Pretty simple, right? Well, similarly, it will be hard for you to predict the behavior of a complex business process just by monitoring thousands of technical metrics from hundreds of technical components. You can’t.  You need a different abstraction level, and a different mindset. And chances are that you will need different data, too.

You may be thinking: So?

Well, this post is just an appetizer.

Coming next Thursday: “The Four Layers of Visibility.” Please don’t part. I’m really getting used to your charming company.