The Age Of Nonlinearity

Engineers are linear thinkers – the systematic process of thought following known cycles or step-by-step progression where a response to a step must be elicited before another step is taken. This “inside-the-box” thinking typically involves sequential ordering of concepts within a framework of fixed constraints. It is a process with low acceptance of ambiguity and a low tolerance for failure.

Historically, reading has been the most linear of activities. People of the Western world learn to read left to right, up to down. People in the East are taught to read right to left, down to up. Either way, from our earliest days forward we have been trained to process information sequentially, from start to finish, rudimentary to complex, from point A to B to C, and so on. Essentially, we have been taught to be linear thinkers.

Consider the ideas of Tom Hayes in Jump Point: How Network Culture is Revolutionizing Business (2008):

But our information world and format is no longer linear. It is increasingly marked by hyperlinks. Hyperlinks, or simply links, are navigational elements within electronic documents that take the user form one reference or document to another. The journey of discovery from one point to another one can take us in an infinite number of directions in pursuit of a train of thought or the right information. There is an element of discovery and serendipity to the use of links. You never know where the process of exploration will take you: you may be one click away from adventure.


Since the arrival of the hyperlinked Internet, people increasingly are becoming nonlinear thinkers. Our brains have been retrained to find information and process it differently that those of the hunt and peck, assembly-line, Dewey Decimal System past. Naturally, this reprogramming shapes and informs our communications, our work, and even our world view. Instead of drilling down a single path, Web users today are more likely to let the information lead where it will. And with an array of tools to make or “tag” their paths, we are prone to set ourselves free to stumble upon new things, new ideas, and never-before-imagined places. And, we are more likely to share our findings with others, as well as take counsel of our fellow travelers. The linear world of engineering was about “search” – the future world of nonlinear engineering will be about “discovery.”


And there are broader cultural implications to this nonlinearity as well, such as a greater acceptance of ambiguity and a tolerance for failure. The social acceptance of experimentation and failure, as well as a belief in redemption after failure. That mindset comes from a core belief that trial and error – discovery – is important, and that trying is more important than dreaming. This is nonlinear thinking at work. The message for engineering – the coming market will not punish you for experimenting and failing; in fact, the opposite is true. New customers will reward your innovation and willingness to be nonlinear.