X : What's the best way of implementing pioneer, settler and town planner? (PST)
Me : Follow the doctrine, get good at that. In order, phase I first.
X : But when do you implement PST?
Me : Don't worry. Follow the doctrine and the organisational model you need will emerge.
X : Won't chanigng the organisational model help to change doctrine?
Me: That's a question hoping for the answer "yes".
X : Well?
Me : No. But this is the point where you're going to tell me that you will be different or that you will create the right culture.
X : And?
Me : No.
X : Can you prove this?
Me : Maps can only prove they are wrong. They're imperfect by nature and they're models. They just happen to be useful. The doctrine is derived from maps and at its heart, encapsulated in phase I, is a principle that situational awareness matters
X : So, the doctrine could be wrong?
Me : Of course. It's also not exhaustive.
X : So, I could just ignore your doctrine and implement PST?
Me : You're free to do whatever you want. Just don't come asking me later why it failed because you already know the answer.
X : But we could be different?
Me : Do you want to know how many times I've heard that? How many times I've heard of people rushing to PST without implementing doctrine and subsequently failing? Doctrine is a path, laid out in easy to follow steps. It's upto you.
X : Is "doctrine" true?
Me : It's my best path (hence Wardley's doctrine) for creating a more adaptive organisation. If you want to create a PST structure (also my model) then I would suggest you use my doctrine and my maps to get there. It's not "true" any more than maps are.
X : Does doctrine only apply at a company level?
Me : It's derived from maps and has the characterstics of maps. So it applies to any collective i.e. nation state, industry, company, project and even the team level, You can start doctrine anywhere.
X : I don't see why you won't say that doctrine is "true".
Me : Because it's not, it's my path (hence Wardley's doctrine). It's no different with maps. Maps are an approximation.
A key phase I doctrine is "challenge assumptions" that applies to both maps and the doctrine ...
... i.e. don't blindly follow the path (i.e. the doctrine) but challenge it as you go. If something isn't working i.e. "focusing on user needs" isn't helping then be prepared to challenge it and say the doctrine is wrong. Create your own doctrine and create your own path.
X : Well my doctrine will be to create a PST structure.
Me : Fine.
X : So you agree?
Me : No, not without all the other bits laid out in the path I've given you.
X : But that implies your doctrine is right?
Me : Jezzus. Look, my doctrine is wrong, just like my maps. But it's the best path and the best tool that I have until someone makes a better version. And even that better version won't be right, it'll just be less wrong.
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X : What is the deep state?
Me : Depends. You have various conspiracy theory forms and then there's the general term used to describe networks of power operating outside traditional democratic processes. This includes the influence of corporate interests, financial bodies, think tanks, wealthy individuals, lobbysts firms and institutions on government policy. Why?
X : Is Trump going to war on the deep state?
Me : I suspect you'll find that Trump brings his own corporate interests, financial bodies, think tanks, wealthy individuals, lobbysts firms and institutions that will have influence on government policy outside of the normal democratic process.
X : What does that mean?
Me : It means the deep state doesn't usually go away, it just changes i.e. a different group have influence. Unless Trump is planning on a radical program of transparency. Now, that would be interesting. Never seen Trump as a transparency champion.
X : Did you research healthcare investment?
Me : Back in 2023. A group of clinicians mapped multiple perspective of healthcare - including AI, clinical decision making, healthcare value chain - then we used those to determine where to invest from a societal and market benefit.
Me : ... from the table, if your focus is on society then your priority for investment should be measurement of health outcomes (against Patient Reported Outcome Measures) and sharing of medical data. If you're after market growth then try personalised medicine and preventative healthcare.
X : How do you produce those tables?
Me : Pick a field ... like healthcare. Ideally get 40-60 people together with experience i.e. clinicians. Ask them to write down post-it notes of what matters ...
X : What is the most essential skill for AI in the future?
Me : Critical thinking in humans. Alas, we don't usually teach this at school because we're too focused on producing useful economic units.
X : Useful economic units?
Me : Turning humans into automatons for the workplace.
X : Do you have evidence for this.
Me : I took a group of educational consultants, academics and teachers in 2023 and mapped out education from multiple perspectives ... purpose, micro-credentials, asynchronous & synchronous learning, learning models, social learning ...
... we then used the maps to identify where to invest for both societal and market benefit. We then aggregated the results, into the table attached.
If your focus in on societal benefit, then invest in lifelong learning and critical thinking. If your focus is on making money then invest in educational AI and digital access.
It amazes me that the most important metrics (lines of code, story points, cycle time, devex satisfaction) in development are the two that are never discussed, let alone measured ... mean time to answer (mttA) and mean time to question (mttQ).
Whenever we start with building a system or managing a legacy environment, we need to ask questions and get answers. Those are skills which can be hindered or supported by the toolset around you ...
... in the very worst cases, engineers are forced into reading code to try and understand a system. Upto 50% of development time can be spent on reading code ... a process we never question or optimise. That is madness.
X : Thoughts on a return to office policy?
Me : It happens for two basic reasons:- 1) loss of status symbols (top floor office etc). Many execs need these to say "I'm the boss" 2) headcount reduction (i.e. people will leave) due to a weakness in the finances.
Why?
X : What about productivity and innovation?
Me : Those are "reasons" given but they're all bogus and don't stand up to scrutiny. However, there is a third.
X : Colloboration?
Me : Stranded assets - offices etc. No exec likes looking at an empty building they spent £300M on.
X : Basically - status symbols, weaknesses of finances and political capital?
Me : Sounds about right.
X : Did you see Amazon has a return to office policy -
Me : Oh. That's concerning.geekwire.com/2024/survey-by…
X : Our strategy doesn't align with our business.
Me : How do you mean?
X : We create these strategy documents but they never really get implemented as the day to day business takes over.
Me : That's common. Can I ask a question?
X : Sure
Me : ...
Me : Do you map?
X : I've heard of your technique but we don't use it.
Me : Ok, so your business operations is not based upon a map of the landscape?
X : No
Me : And your strategy is not based upon a map of the landscape?
X : No
Me : What made you think they would align?
X : They are supposed to align and we wrote our strategy on our understanding of the business.
Me : Your wrote your strategy based upon stories. There's no means to create a consensus of your landscape, to challenge what your are doing. There is no mechanism for alignment.