Articles by Richard Faint on product management, systems thinking, transport optimisation, forecasting, and operational software.https://richard-faint.com/en-gbhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/the-framework-is-not-the-product/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/the-framework-is-not-the-product/An introduction to a series exploring product-management frameworks, what they help us see, what they hide, and how they behave inside complex systems.Sun, 16 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/earl-no-best-optimisation-algorithm/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/earl-no-best-optimisation-algorithm/A conclusion to the Earl optimisation series: why real route optimisation uses heuristics, metaheuristics and hybrid search rather than one perfect algorithm.Sat, 15 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationOperations Researchhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/large-neighbourhood-search/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/large-neighbourhood-search/An intuitive exploration of Large Neighbourhood Search, using My Name Is Earl and Yorkshire logistics examples.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/ray-bradbury-august-4-2026/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/ray-bradbury-august-4-2026/Ray Bradbury’s There Will Come Soft Rains predicted the automated home, but its real warning is about system boundaries and automation without purpose.Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTTechnology and Societyhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/earl-ant-colony-optimisation/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/earl-ant-colony-optimisation/An intuitive exploration of Ant Colony Optimisation, metaheuristics and swarm intelligence, using My Name Is Earl and Yorkshire logistics examples.Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/two-opt-three-opt-route-optimisation/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/two-opt-three-opt-route-optimisation/Two-Opt and Three-Opt explained for route optimisation: how removing and reconnecting links strips out mileage, and why local improvement gets stranded.Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/clarke-wright-savings/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/clarke-wright-savings/How the Clarke-Wright savings algorithm solves the Vehicle Routing Problem by merging out-and-back trips into shared runs, explained through Randy’s driving.Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/genetic-algorithms-routing/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/genetic-algorithms-routing/Genetic algorithms explained for route optimisation: populations, crossover and mutation in place of a single improving solution, from an MSc dissertation.Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/tabu-search/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/tabu-search/Tabu Search explained for route optimisation: how a short-term memory of forbidden moves stops the search cycling and forces it into unexplored territory.Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/departmental-optimisation/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/departmental-optimisation/Why departments behave like rival football supporters: Social Identity Theory, Senge’s mental models, and exposing the assumptions behind departmental views.Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTSystems ThinkingProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/simulated-annealing/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/simulated-annealing/Simulated Annealing explained for route optimisation: escaping a local minimum by accepting controlled deterioration, and what the cooling schedule decides.Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/porridge-work-as-imagined/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/porridge-work-as-imagined/Porridge as a study of Work as Imagined versus Work as Done: why experienced people adapt the process, and why automating the official version fails.Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTSystems ThinkingProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/chris-kamara-ai-football/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/chris-kamara-ai-football/Chris Kamara’s least conventional match prediction as a way into forecasting: open versus closed systems, reflexivity, and stripping out uncertainty.Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTAIForecastinghttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/ai-and-yes-minister/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/ai-and-yes-minister/What Yes, Minister explains about working with AI: plausible, well-structured answers select for coherence rather than truth, and System 2 rarely checks.Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTAIProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/peep-show-world-cup/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/peep-show-world-cup/Why compound probability wrecks business plans: ten activities at 90% confidence do not add up to 90% overall. Narrated, inevitably, by Mark Corrigan.Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTForecastingProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/monty-python-philosophers-football/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/monty-python-philosophers-football/Analysis paralysis explained through Monty Python's philosophers' football match: simple, complex, and chaotic systems, and when waiting for certainty pays.Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTProduct ManagementSystems Thinkinghttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/whatever-happened-to-the-likely-lads/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/whatever-happened-to-the-likely-lads/What the Likely Lads teaches product managers about objectives: separating misaligned incentives from competing side-quests, and goals that stopped mattering.Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTProduct ManagementSystems Thinkinghttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/order-clustering/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/order-clustering/How transport optimisation groups orders before it routes them, and why locations, time windows, capacities and driver skills make clustering the hard part.Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/transport-optimisation-earl/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/transport-optimisation-earl/An introduction to the Earl’s List series on transport optimisation, connecting objective functions, order grouping, routing and metaheuristics to a TMS.Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/earls-list-objective-function/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/earls-list-objective-function/The first article in the Earl's List series on transport optimisation: objective functions, weighted trade-offs, and deciding what the system should improve.Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTOptimisationProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/braudel-product-strategy/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/braudel-product-strategy/Richard Faint on what product managers can learn from Fernand Braudel about events, trends, deep structures, AI, and long-term product strategy.Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTHistory & PhilosophyProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/eh-carr-product-management/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/eh-carr-product-management/Richard Faint on E.H. Carr and the myth of data-driven product management, and why data needs context, judgement, and interpretation to guide decisions.Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTHistory & PhilosophyProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/hammer-process-reengineering/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/hammer-process-reengineering/Richard Faint on Michael Hammer, business process reengineering, and the danger of automating bad processes instead of rethinking them first.Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTProduct ManagementSystems Thinkinghttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/harari-product-narratives/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/harari-product-narratives/Richard Faint on Yuval Harari and the power of product narratives, and why customers buy stories rather than features, with lessons for product managers.Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTHistory & PhilosophyProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/soft-systems-methodology/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/soft-systems-methodology/Richard Faint on why most software projects fail, and what soft systems methodology teaches about requirements discovery and building the right thing.Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTSystems ThinkingProduct ManagementAIhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/schumpeter-creative-destruction/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/schumpeter-creative-destruction/Richard Faint on Schumpeter and creative destruction, and why AI threatens not just jobs but business models, value chains, and product assumptions.Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTAIHistory & Philosophyhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/systems-thinking-product-management/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/systems-thinking-product-management/Richard Faint on systems thinking in product management, and why smart product managers keep solving the wrong problem instead of the underlying system.Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTSystems ThinkingProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/probabilistic-forecasting-product-management/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/probabilistic-forecasting-product-management/Richard Faint on probabilistic forecasting for product management: why fixed deadlines mislead and how to forecast delivery with ranges and confidence.Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTForecastingProduct Managementhttps://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/theory-of-constraints-operational-software/https://richard-faint.com/writing/articles/theory-of-constraints-operational-software/Richard Faint on applying Goldratt's Theory of Constraints to software operations: finding the real bottleneck and improving flow in operational systems.Fri, 19 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTSystems ThinkingOptimisation