When individuals/group optimise their performance, how important is
"PATTERN MATCHING"? (ie. spotting patterns and experimenting for
better options)? 

Please provide a definition within this context, also any research links.

Hello Ideasmerchant,

I will thank you first for the clarification. It went a long way to
refine the kind of answer I have put together. Part of what I will
describe is directly related to pattern matching, but part will also
address related techniques and problem solving in general (when the
problem is insufficient performance).

The existance of patterns, and the recognition of patterns is a key
component of problem solving. A good summary of general science and
the kinds of patterns that were recognized over the years is at

  http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/ast121/lectures/lec01.html

A particularly good example described in this document is the
difference between the explanation of planetary motion by Ptolemy and
Copernicus. In this case, the patterns of planetary motion were used
to cause not only a scientific revolution but affected social and
political views.

However, by itself, pattern matching can only address part of the
problem and needs to be combined with other methods or put into a
framework to be effective. A few of these methods or frameworks
include:

1. Pareto Analysis. In the late 1800's, Vilfredo Pareto described the
distribution of income and wealth in Italy - basically 20% of the
people owned 80% of the land. This has been generalized over the years
to be described as focusing on the "essential few" or the 80/20 rule.
A few references are at

  http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c010527d.asp
  http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/pareto.htm
  http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_01.htm

But any search with the phrase pareto analysis, pareto law, or similar
will provide several references.

2. Plan, Do, Check, Act (or PDCA). If you are not aware of this
framework, search with that phrase or look at sites such as

  http://www.hrqmc.com/ProcessElements/pdca.htm
  http://www.att.com/quality/approach_plan.html

This is sometimes called the Demming or Shewart cycle as well. To do
work, you prepare a plan, do the work to the plan, check the results
as you work, and act on the findings of those results. A key part of
this framework is to understand the difference between random and
significant variations. This is not strictly pattern matching per se,
but a related technique.

3. Problem solving in general. There are several frameworks available
for solving problems or improving performance. You may also find from
these pages a set of competing products - to give you an idea of what
to do and not do. A few of the better ones I found include:

http://erc.msh.org/quality/psoview.cfm

http://www.cs.purdue.edu/research/cse/pses/research.html

http://www.maintenanceresources.com/ReferenceLibrary/FailureAnalysis/FailureAnalysisProblem.htm



4. A good map of the "Concepts of Complex Systems" is at...

  http://necsi.org/guide/concepts/

Look specifically at emergence and the related reductionism for some
good ideas.  Actually, the way this is illustrated is a nice pattern
that helps get across the information for this topic.

5. Patterns in building. The book "A Timeless Way of Building" by
Christopher Alexander has an excellent structure from architectural
elements (e.g., a bay window), to a neighborhood (e.g., green
streets), to a whole town or region. This book along with "A Pattern
Language" describe a way to make buildings and developments more
satisfying for the people who live there. You can search for him by
name or go to http://patternlanguage.com/ for more information.

I hope this answer has provided some good ideas for your product
development or for marketing your product. If any of this is unclear,
don't hesitate to ask for clarification.

  --Maniac

Very happy with the answer(s) provided. The funny thing is that one of
the answers I got proved a point on several levels "ability to see
similar patterns disparate fields" and thats just what the people
answering questions do, right? Great work keep going :o)

Hi ideasmerchant, 

Would you mind like completely
restating the question? I could
provide an answer for what I believe
you have asked, but maybe a rewording
or a little more detail would help us
give you a better answer.

Um, well I'll try an answer anyway
based on the Subject line: How important
is PATTERN MATCHING in performance optimisation?

I would say there is hardly any more
important aspect of making anything
perform at optimum than pattern matching.
Scientists have always made strict notes 
and graphed and plotted all experiments
for the sake of repeatability. And thus
they can recognize the patterns. This is
part of the scientific method.

Without knowledge of a pattern how would
you have a benchmark of achievement in
your goal of optimization?

please clarify your question...

thanks,
-AI

With your answer your going along the right lines. I suppose I'm
looking for proof and examples of where PATTERN MATCHING have been
used.

The context of the question is a product I am developing which enables
people to create a log of events. The can then go though the log
looking for the existance or non-existance of patterns.

In artificial intelligence, there is a technique called case-based
reasoning (CBR).  Some say it's a method people use.  No specific
link, but there are thousands.

Also, this article might be of interest.
"Other research suggests that professional judgment can often be
reduced to patterns and rules; indeed, truly inspired decisions seem
to require an ability to see similar patterns across disparate
fields."
http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=R0102C