Do We Build Systems, or Do We Grow Them?

The Different Mindset About Systems I Discovered in London

Wow! They were treating a system as if it were a home garden!

For about eight years, I worked as a systems engineer and participated in many system development projects.

Batch systems. Web applications. Email integration platforms.

As a vendor, I was involved in a wide range of projects and gained experience developing systems of various sizes.

The process was always familiar.

Receive a request from the customer.

Analyze the impact.

Create a modification plan.

Develop.

Test.

Release.

I repeated this cycle over and over again.

I belonged to an application development team, so most of the requests we received were relatively large-scale enhancements.

Small changes rarely came our way.

As a result, every request became a project of its own.

Three months.

Six months.

Sometimes even longer.

I always felt that I was "building" systems.

But I never felt that I was "growing" them.

The System Owners I Met in London

One day in London, I attended a meeting where a system was being explained to us.

What surprised me was who was giving the presentation.

They were not the development vendor.

They were the system owners.

Most likely, they were the people responsible for sponsoring and managing the system.

They explained the system with remarkable ease.

They described features while making jokes.

They made people laugh.

They enjoyed the discussion.

There was a sense of confidence and comfort in the room.

To be honest, I admired that style of meeting.

They knew the system inside and out, yet they spoke about it naturally and without tension.

What Was Different from Japan?

As the discussion progressed, questions came from the Japanese team.

"Doesn't the system have this feature?"

"It would be great if it could do that as well."

The response from the London team surprised me.

They did not reject the ideas.

They did not look troubled.

Instead, they took notes and replied calmly.

"That will be included in a future release."

"We'll add that to the roadmap."

Those simple responses had a significant impact on me.

Because in Japan, the conversation often sounds different.

"That would require a separate project."

"We'll prepare an estimate."

"We'll consider it in next year's budget."

Of course, those responses are also necessary.

However, the London team was operating on a much longer timeline.

The question was not whether something could be done today.

The question was how the system should evolve.

That was the perspective guiding the conversation.

The Idea of Growing a System

They did not see the system as a finished product.

For them, a release was not the goal.

It was the beginning.

Listen to users.

Improve.

Add new features.

Listen again.

Improve further.

It was almost like raising a child.

Or nurturing a plant.

Over time, they carefully helped the system grow.

That is why, by the time the system was introduced in Japan, features requested by Japanese users were often already available.

Even if they were not yet implemented, they had already been planned and included in the roadmap.

The future was shared.

Perhaps We Were Growing Systems All Along

Looking back, many of the systems I worked on in the 2000s remained in operation for years.

We added features.

We made improvements.

In reality, we were growing those systems.

But we never used that word.

We called it:

Feature enhancement.

Maintenance.

Modification projects.

Cold and mechanical terms.

Perhaps that is why developers struggled to feel ownership and attachment.

Perhaps that is why conversations with users were limited.

We viewed systems as projects to be managed rather than assets to be nurtured.

Is Your Company's System Actually Growing?

Let me leave you with a question that may spark debate.

Are companies truly pursuing digital transformation?

Or are they simply implementing systems?

There is a significant difference between:

"Introducing a system"

and

"Growing a system."

Do you have a budget for continuous improvement?

Do you regularly gather feedback from users?

Do you have a roadmap for the next three or five years?

If the answer is no, perhaps your system begins aging the moment it goes live.

What I discovered in London was not a new technology.

It was a different relationship with technology.

A shift in mindset.

From building systems to growing systems.

And perhaps that shift is what true digital transformation is really about.

I can do it! I'll take the first step tomorrow.