Introduction
My phenomenal journey started in the early 1960s. I was studying mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley when Professor Walter B. Henning, the world's authority in middle-Persian studies, chose me to help him develop a program in middle-Persian culture. That experience re-formed my understanding of culture and its significance in shaping human systems. After two years of working with Henning, I knew I could not be merely a mechanical engineer anymore. Fortunately, Berkeley was experimenting at the time with systems engineering. After enrolling in an introductory program in cybernetics, information theory, and systems design, I was advised to join IBM if I wanted to pursue this line further.
I was lucky. IBM gave me the opportunity I ...
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