Products don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re used by people. Those people are part of a community. Sometimes those people interact with other things. Sometimes the things they interact with interact with other things! Given such complexity, reductionist techniques (like the scientific method) may be incapable of providing valuable information in a timely matter. In this presentation, we’ll discover how to apply holistic reasoning techniques like soft systems thinking and living systems thinking when we don’t have the resources, time, or people to apply reductionist methods.

1. Leveraging Holistic
Thinking in Product Design
By Zee Spencer
LeanDog
AN AGILE SOFTWARE STUDIO
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

2. Thinking about Thinking
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

3. Reductionism
Rigorous Experimentation
Break Things Down
Strongly Western
Scientific Hyper Specialization
High Precision and Accuracy
Has Blind Spots
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

4. Holism
Explores Interconnectedness
Accounts for Emergence
Explains Complex Stuff
Hyper Generalization
Has Blind Spots
Lower Precision and Accuracy
More Common in Eastern Thought
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

5. Ok... Why Do I Care?
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

6. Products Ain’t An Island
(Unless the product is an island)
(And even then it probably isn’t an island)
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Sunday, October 9, 11

7. First We Build Houses.
Then They Build Us
-- Winston Churchill --
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

8. To make things that change
the world, we must start
with where the world is.
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

9. Look For Connections
Getting Help Stopping
Using
Starting
Complaining Sharing
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

10. Then Look Beyond Them
Who else is involved?
What caused this connection?
What were they
doing before? After?
Where are they?
What are they using?
Why would they do this?
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

11. Now Model It
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

12. Not Like That
Photo by Jessica Rigley: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jess-photos/
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

13. Like This
Diagram From Vicki Sauter: http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/analysis_links.html#ssmethods
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

14. Models Are Not The
System
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

15. Models Are Shared
Understanding
Make ‘em imperfect
Make ‘em cheap
Make ‘em small
Change em
Talk about ‘em
Throw ‘em away
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

16. Now Think About How
You Can Make it Better
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

17. Better is Relative to
Personal Desires
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

18. Take These Chairs
Photos by tjdewej: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22416200@N05/, Crouching Donkey: http://www.flickr.com/
photos/crouchingdonkey/, Postal Etrice: http://www.flickr.com/photos/postaletrice/, Italianjob17: http://
www.flickr.com/photos/italianjob17/, Kelly Cookson: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mscaprikell/
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

19. What is Valuable For...
Users
Business Owners Customers
You The Economy
Employees Society
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

20. Now Model That
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

21. Focus on Outcome
Not Output
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

22. Break the Cheese
Barrier
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

23. Facilitate Exchanges of
Value Between Parties
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

24. Experiment!
(Just don’t get hung up on it)
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

25. Remember: as a systems parts
change, the relationships
between them also change.
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11

26. Some Giants Whose
Shoulders I Stand On
Peter Checkland Indi Young
Jerry Weinberg
Hong Li
Aristotle
Brian Wilson Gwilym Jenkins
The Buddha
Angela Harms
By @zspencer from @leandog. Leave feedback, ask questions and download materials at http://spkr8.com/t/8693
Sunday, October 9, 11