There’s a little-known law that should be tattooed on every whiteboard in every conference room where someone says, “Let’s just build the whole thing now and figure it out later.”
It’s called Gall’s Law, and it goes like this:
“A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.”
In other words:
You can’t build a Ferrari from scratch.
You start with a go-kart that moves.
Then you tweak, test, and scale.
But corporate teams? We love doing the opposite.
We blueprint a 37-step transformation plan with 12 workstreams and a “pilot phase” that looks suspiciously like a full rollout in disguise.
Then we act surprised when it collapses under its own ambition.
What Gall’s Law Actually Means
Here’s the real punchline of Gall’s Law:
If you try to design a complex, functioning system from the jump, you will fail.
Because the only thing more complex than the system… is the people in it.
What works instead is evolution:
- Start small.
- Build something that actually works.
- Learn from it.
- Add the next layer.
- Repeat.
That’s not waterfall vs. agile.
That’s reality vs. fantasy.
Gall’s Law in Action (or Inaction)
Here’s where I see Gall’s Law violated the most:
- Agile rollouts that try to scale across 20 teams without ever running a solid Scrum team first.
- Tool implementations that go enterprise-wide before proving they solve anything at all.
- Org redesigns that flatten, podify, or matrix-ify without testing on one team, in one group, with one leader who doesn’t freak out when it breaks.
You don’t evolve agility with a Big Bang.
You evolve it like a sourdough starter.
Small, messy, living, adaptive.
So What Do You Actually Do?
You run a small experiment that works.
Then you grow it.
Then you invite others in.
Gall’s Law isn’t a constraint. It’s your escape route.
Start simple. Get it working. Then go nuts.
Final Thought
If your big, beautiful system isn’t working, it’s not because people are resistant or the tools are broken or “change is hard.”
It’s probably because you built complexity without earning it.
Gall’s Law has been right since 1975.
Try listening to it before your next “strategic roadmap planning session.”
Or just ignore it and enjoy watching another overly ambitious plan flame out on slide 46 of the kickoff deck.
Your call.
