Gall's Law
Summary
Section titled “Summary”A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.
Origin
Section titled “Origin”John Gall, Systemantics (1975).
Still Applicable?
Section titled “Still Applicable?”Yes, especially in startups and platform evolution.
Context Notes
Section titled “Context Notes”Gall’s Law supports iterative, evolutionary design. Attempting to build a complex system from scratch often fails due to unknowns. Starting with something simple and learning from production use enables robust complexity to emerge organically.