Simon Wardley Profile picture
Jan 14, 2021 13 tweets 5 min read Read on X
X : We need to adapt to our new reality.
Me : A question?
X : Should we start with organisation or operating model first?
Me : Neither. Start with doctrine i.e. basic principles of your company. This will lead you to landcape which will lead you to structure + operating model. Image
X : Don't we need to get the structure right though?
Me : Structure against what? If you don't understand the landscape that you operate in then how do you structure around it? How do you decide what your operating model is? Awareness comes first and that needs those principles.
X : Explain?
Me : Pretend you're running a tea shop (I'm a Brit, I like tea shops). First thing you need to do is to know who your users are - the public, the business for example (there are more like regulators etc). Image
... but just knowing the users is not enough, you need to know what they need i.e. a cup of tea, maybe something more like entertainment or a nice piece of fruitcake Image
... but just knowing what they need is not enough, you need to know what goes into making a cup of tea, the chain of chains that it is built upon. You need to know the details ... Image
... but knowing the details is not enough, there is a world of difference between a custom built kettle and one you buy from argos. so you need to understand what is being considered ... this is what we call a map ... Image
... now that we have a map, we have a common language where others can add components we are missing or discuss how we should think about those components ... Image
... because we have a common language, we can now challenge the assumptions because we are expressing our assumptions in the map. The key is to challenge the map (not the person) ... it's the map that's wrong ... Image
... as we build more maps, we discover we have duplication and bias between maps. We can literally see it by comparing maps and because we've now become good at challenging then we can remove it ... Image
... with our understand of the landscape, we can start to apply appropriate methods. All methods have a context where they work, there is no one size fits all ... Image
... we can embed challenge, communication (maps) and learning (i.e. which method goes where) through the use of pre and post mortems. We call this "spend control" and it's all about learning from those maps (i.e. data) rather than using data to justify a story we like. Image
... you have now completed all phase I of the doctrine. You have some awareness! Congratulations!

You have earned the right to talk about concepts like organisation, operating model and strategy ... just don't try and do them yet. You've got more principles to fix first. Image
X : What about phase II?
Me : Have you done phase I?
X : Not quite.
Me : Ok. Was the tea shop example useful.
X : It's pretty good.
Me : Ok. Well, in which case I better put some maps together to explain phase II. Note to self ... #to_be_continued #phases

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More from @swardley

Nov 7
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.
Read 13 tweets
Sep 26
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…
Read 11 tweets
Sep 9
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.
Read 10 tweets
Sep 5
X : Why do you continue to use twitter / X?
Me : Because I like the tool and the crowd.
X : Do you support @elonmusk
Me : No. I disagree on many of his views.
X : He is far right.
Me : Perspective matters. US is generally more right wing & Silicon Valley especially so.
X : What do you mean by "Perspective matters"?
Me : Elon's views are not that unusual for Silicon Valley - . There's a lot of support based upon a different view of economics and government.
X : Different?
Me : Different from Europe. cbsnews.com/news/trump-jd-…
Image
X : People should just accept it?
Me : No. They should argue against it. The "left" did itself no favours by diluting its voice across multiple platforms.
X : Are you left?
Me : I view the market as tool to be used in the common interest of society. I'm a socialist.
Read 20 tweets
Aug 23
X : What do you need to do in order to map a business?
Me : Ask ...
1) "Who are the users?" (at the least, include consumers and the business)
2) "What are their needs?"
3) "What is the chain of components required to meet those needs?"
4) "How evolved are those components?"
...
Me : Once you have done that, allow others to challenge it. Even better, build the map with others. It really is that simple.
X : But creating a map is difficult.
Me : Only to those used to making decisions without understanding users, needs, the supply chain etc.
X : How common is that?
Me : In business? The majority of decisions tend to be made with no understanding of users, needs, supply chain and how evolved those components are. We tend to rely on gut feel and stories with little to no effective challenge.
Read 19 tweets
May 9
dX: How do you deal with strategy?
Me: First, we need to answer the Where question, which depends a lot on the what and why.
dX: And?
Me: Ok, some very simple steps ...
Step 1: Visualise your environment. That means getting people to discuss, collaborate & challenge in order to create a "good enough" map of your environment. Should be a couple of hours.
Step 2: Look at what's changing which is competitor moves, your moves & economic patterns.
Step 3: Using the map, determine where you could invest/focus on. You're not making a decision yet, you just want the options. By now, you could have spent four hours on the exercise.
Step 4: Decide where you should invest i.e. look at the options using why & what
Read 8 tweets

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