How do we respond in chaos? In this post I reflect on my experience of witnessing response patterns of individuals and groups in the aftermath of the collapse of Stalinism in Albania in the early 1990s, patterns which I have observed in the intervening decades in business and organisations, even in my own family, when …
The discovery mindset
The discovery mindset is the mindset we need for successful living in a complex world Discovery is the mindset we need to create and launch new products and services. And discovery is the mindset we need to sustain successful interventions in human complex systems such as organisations, and when attempting business change. Discovery helps us …
Small is not always beautiful
Small, cross-functional teams are the essence of agility. Many organizations are now experimenting with or reorganizing around multi-skilled product teams, or Spotify-style ‘squads’ and ‘tribes’, often with fantastic results. But the transition is not always easy. In this post, I summarise some of my experience of what to look for to avoid problems and how …
‘A single version of the truth’
I have noticed this phrase several times recently, in the context of systems implementations in large organizations: 'a single version of the truth'. It refers to an affordance and anticipated benefit of the proposed new systems. The new systems (it is claimed) will improve the quality and reliability of management information, and (it is implied) …
Impact mapping for change
This planning technique from software and digital product development can be used to support and embed new behaviours for organizational change Example map from Gojko Adzic’s impact mapping site https://www.impactmapping.org/drawing.html Impact mapping is a strategic planning technique for software products and projects. It is a simple, visual technique for mapping four things: the goal we …
Matthew Moran 