
Reliability and systems engineers are in it for the long game. Their work feeds big decisions that take months or years to evaluate and must pass through many levels of management. Big decisions are filled with complexity (many interrelated parts) and uncertainty (unknown beyond doubt or not clearly defined). This article provides several key observations about uncertainty and five tips on how to drive out uncertainty with FINESSE.
Knowledge (and the degree of its validation)
Uncertainty refers to situations involving imperfect or unknown information. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown. Uncertainty arises in partially observable environments and is due to ignorance, indolence, or both (Norvig and Thrun).
Technical professionals drive toward collecting more data – more knowledge – but is that really what decision-makers care about?
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