This document discusses applying design thinking and complexity theory in agile organizations. It argues that organizations should embrace both exploration and exploitation by balancing searching for new ideas with implementing ideas. It also advocates embracing emergence and resilience to foster sustained innovation. Design thinking practices like prototyping and empathy are recommended to invite unexpected solutions. Complexity theory suggests embracing principles like probing the environment and responding instead of relying only on repeatable practices. The goal is to move systems appropriately between ordered and unordered states to manage complexity.

1. Applying Design
Thinking and
Complexity Theory in
Agile Organizations
Jean Tabaka, Rally Software
@jeantabaka

2. Yuval and Ronen

4. An Agile Adoption Story

5. 2002

6. 5000

7. 14

8. 7

9. 1

10. 1

11. We
created
an
algorithm
we
could
exploit.

12. “Cookbook Agile”

13. Centralized
authority

14. h5p://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualeyesee/6107062655

16. Lack
of
innovaEon

17. Diminishing
customer
base

18. EscalaEon

19. Agile
“blame
game”

21. Why
a
cookbook
won’t
do

22. We live in a world that
is complex yet craving
innovation

23. Our Agile adoptions
must embrace vision
with hunches,
exploration and
exploitation

24. We need to do this
leveraging emergence,
bringing empathy, and
inviting “the wildly
unexpected”

26. 3
thoughts

27. Don’t
latch
onto
one
set
of
Agile
pracEces

28. Invite
principles
and
pracEces
outside
of
Agile
as
your
organizaEon
matures

29. Combine
emergence
and
resilience
for
sustained
innovaEon

30. What
you
get

31. “Thrive versus
merely survive

32. A
look
at
complexity

33. 4 Dots

34. 6 Connections

35. ? Patterns

36. 64 Patterns

37. 10 Dots

38. 45 Connections

39. ? Patterns

40. Patterns
35,184,372,088,832

41. h5p://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualeyesee/6107062655

42. We live in an
unordered, complex
world

43. We have
complexity of…

44. Organizations

45. Capabilities

46. Code-base

47. Customers

48. Markets

49. We
can’t
afford
to
latch
onto
recipes
of…

50. Order

51. Control

52. Algorithm

53. Are you complex?

54. “What you predict
doesn’t come true.”

55. “What worked yesterday,
doesn’t seem to be
working today.”

56. “What you don’t know is
unknown.”

57. Are
you
a
chef
or
a
recipe
follower?

62. “It is not possible to prove
any new thought, concept
or idea in advance.”
– Charles Sanders Pierce

64. Analysis and induction
alone cannot manage
complexity

65. We should must invite
abductive logic

66. Abductive logic:
multiple possible
explanations for
something

67. We must invite
mystery to allow
innovative patterns to
emerge

68. How
do
we
make
sense
of
environments
like
this?

69. Gaussian probability (“Bell
curve) is not sufficient
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution

70. We cannot see the low
probability, high impact
events

71. Pareto plausibility
seeks outliers

72. We
intenEonally
seek
these
low
signal
outliers

73. Complexity theory

74.
David
Snowden

75. Cynefin

77. Plausible Probable
Unordered Ordered

78. Plausible Probable
Chaotic Complex Complicated Simple
Unordered Ordered

79. Plausible Probable
Complex Complicated
Chaotic Simple
Unordered Ordered

80. Plausible Probable
Complex Complicated
Disorder
Chaotic Simple
Unordered Ordered

81. The relationship between
cause and effect

82. Plausible Probable
Complex Complicated
only coherent in requires analysis or
retrospect, and not expertise
repeatable
Disorder
not perceivable obvious & repeatable
Chaotic Simple
Unordered Ordered

83. What practices are
appropriate in each
scenario/system?

84. Plausible Probable
Complex Complicated
Emergent practices Good practices
Disorder
Action Best practices
Chaotic Simple
Unordered Ordered

85. What
is
Dave
asking
of
us?

86. Resilience
vs
Robustness

87. Effec6veness
vs
Efficiency

88. The
goal
is
NOT
to
define
your
system
in
one
area
or
another
but
rather
create
movement
appropriately.

89. Design thinking

90. George
Kembel
d.school,
Stanford
University

91. http://dschool.stanford.edu/our-point-of-view/

92. Innovation with empathy

94. Design thinking practices
are non-linear

95. Design Thinking

96. Create space for the
“wildly unexpected”

97. http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/#gear-up

98. Low fidelity prototypes

103. “It is not possible to prove
any new thought, concept
or idea in advance.”
– Charles Sanders Pierce

104. We should must invite
abductive logic

105. The balance of
Exploration
Mystery
Heuristics
Algorithm
with Exploitation

106. In business, we MUST
balance searching and
shipping.

107. Reliability
vs
Validity
and
the
“predilecEon
gap”

108. Combining
design
thinking
and
complexity
theory

109. Embrace
deep
intenEon
around
the
principles
that
guide
your
pracEces.

110. Probe,
Sense,
Respond

111. Explore and Exploit

112. Emergence
and
resilience

113. Empathize
and
innovate

114. Apply
cogniEve
distribuEon
necessary
in
complexity

115. Apply
design
thinking
non-­‐linear
empathy

117. Seek the wildly unexpected
Vision & Empathy

118. Applying Design
Thinking and
Complexity Theory in
Agile Organizations
Jean Tabaka, Rally Software
@jeantabaka