Badhree Babu

Manish is a true scholar and wonderful thinker. He states and stands by a quote by Socrates – “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” This philosophy perfectly captures the essence of his systems thinking workshop and its transformative impact on how I approach architecture and system design at PayPal.

As an Architect at PayPal, I’m responsible for designing systems that handle millions of transactions daily while maintaining security, scalability, and reliability. The complexity of modern payment systems requires a deep understanding of how different components interact and influence each other.

Manish’s workshop provided me with a powerful framework for thinking about system architecture beyond individual components. Instead of optimizing parts in isolation, I now design with a holistic view of the entire ecosystem - considering user behavior, business processes, regulatory requirements, and technical constraints as interconnected elements.

The concept of emergent properties has been particularly valuable. Manish helped me understand that system behavior emerges from the relationships between components, not just from the components themselves. This insight has fundamentally changed how I approach system design and troubleshooting.

One of the most impactful aspects was learning to identify and work with feedback loops in systems. In payment processing, these loops can either stabilize or destabilize the entire system. Understanding how to design positive feedback loops and dampen negative ones has made our systems more robust and self-correcting.

Manish’s Socratic approach to teaching creates deep, lasting learning. Rather than providing prescriptive solutions, he guides participants to discover insights themselves. This makes the learning more profound and personally meaningful.

The workshop has also improved my ability to communicate complex architectural decisions to diverse stakeholders. By presenting designs within the context of the larger business system, I can build stronger consensus and support for technical initiatives.

I highly recommend this workshop to anyone in technical architecture, system design, or engineering leadership roles. The systems thinking principles will elevate your ability to create robust, effective solutions.