We’re talking about the attitude of trying something out first without necessarily asking permission. In English it sounds like this: “ask for forgiveness, not for permission”.

This can get things moving much more quickly than always following the prescribed process – especially if you are not in the decision-making position yourself (which is all too often the case for most of us).

So hacking here means simply doing it. This requires courage, but also a sense of proportion as to when it is appropriate and whether you can control the “blast radius”.

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In a complex world, there is no reliable correlation between interventions and effect. Rather, an intervention is an experiment: the effect may or may not be the expected one.

A prerequisite for dealing with it productively is

• system thinking: connections are not linear, but follow feedback cycles
• interventions are experiments

In a world in flux, it is necessary to keep pace with change; if possible, to be faster and to drive change. Therefore: experiments.

Why experiments

What makes a good experiment?

Experiments provide quick feedback, cost little or nothing, no one has to agree to them, and they are easy to do.

Before starting an experiment, it is helpful to answer these nine questions:

1. Which factors determine the current situation?
2. Which factors can be controlled or influenced?
3. Why should this experiment be done, and what question(s) can it answer?
4. What can be observed about the current situation?
5. How can you tell if the experiment is moving the situation in the desired direction or causing pleasing side effects?
6. How can you tell if the experiment is moving in an unwanted direction with unwanted effects?
7. What is the natural time frame for this experiment? When will you see results?
8. If the experiment makes things worse, how can you resolve the situation?
9. If the situation improves, how could you expand the experiment?

Source

adapted from the concept in: Derby, Esther. March 2017. ‘Change Artist Super Powers: Experimentation – Esther Derby Associates, Inc.’ Accessed 22 January 2019. . Presentation adapted.

The Paltchinsky Principles for Experiments

The Russian engineer Pjotr Ioakimowitsch Paltschinsky played a major role in the introduction of Tayloristic principles into Russian industry after the February Revolution of 1917.
He condensed three simple rules for designing experiments:

1. Variation: try out new ideas and things
2. survivability: experiments should be on a scale where mistakes can be survived.
   (This is also the reason why stories should be small. Also to be able to complete them within an iteration – but mainly because they can also be wrong.)
3. selection: seek feedback and learn from mistakes.

Source

Discovered and adopted from Harford, Tim. 2012. Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Supplemented with information on Palchinsky from the English Wikipedia entry.

Source

Decision-making process to maximize options

or: the last responsible moment

Identify the options available for each decision.

Identify the latest possible time at which a decision can be made, i.e. the conditions that must be met to enter into an obligation.

Decision time = deadline – option implementation time.

The first decision is made before the first option expires.

Until that moment, you continue to look for new options and refine or expand existing options.

Identify option(s) for each condition and be clear in advance which option should be exercised based on a specific condition.

Try to delay the decision time.

Most of the time this costs nothing or little.

To do this, we need to be able to implement the option as soon as possible. Try to speed up the process in the buffer time.

Understand that cost optimization is not the same as revenue optimization or risk reduction. Sometimes it pays to invest in more than one option, even if it costs a little more. Options have a value.

Wait with the decisions… and wait… and wait… until the conditions are met.

When you have to act… then as fast as possible. You can be sure because you know that you will have made the best possible decision.

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Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led.

Motivation needs freedom of choice and an environment in which every opinion counts. Therefore, it is very closely related to the self-image of the leader and their behavior towards employees. If you are a leader, you cannot empower others without giving up some of your own authority. You have to exchange the old currency of power – privileges, decision rights and sanctions – for new coins – wisdom, generosity and mentorship.

• Give up some responsibility – this is another reason, besides short decision-making paths, why decisions should be made at as low a hierarchical level as is reasonable.
• Create an environment in which everyone seeks advice and influences each other.
• Encourage employees to voice their own interests, participate in joint problem-solving, negotiate, compromise and seek a common solution.

Gary Hamel, for example, describes very concrete ways to delegate authority and encourage autonomous action:

• set direction, e.g. ask your team to define their shared mission
• building skills, for example, asking team members to identify areas in which they would like to develop new skills – creative problem solving or any other field
• organizing work, for example, giving your team the authority to reassign work tasks
• Manage performance, for example, ask team members whether they believe they have the right performance targets. If not, ask them to suggest alternatives.
• Share information, for example, help front-line team members better understand the strategic measures and screens that business unit or corporate leaders use to assess organizational efficiency.

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Communities of Practices are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.

There are three characteristics of a community of practice:

• Topic: The community members have a shared area of interest, a shared expertise, and a shared commitment that sets them apart. This shared area creates common ground, inspires members to participate, guides their learning, and gives meaning to their actions.
• Community: Members pursue this interest through shared activities, discussions, problem-solving opportunities, information sharing, and relationship building. The notion of community creates the social fabric that makes collective learning possible. A strong sense of community fosters interaction and encourages a willingness to share ideas.
• Practice: The members of the community are actual practitioners in the area of interest and build a shared repertoire of resources and ideas that they take with them into their practice. While the area represents the general area of interest of the community, the practice is the specific focus around which the community develops, shares and maintains its core of collective knowledge.

Promoting Communities is Profitable

Information and ideas do not just flow along hierarchical levels or in predetermined structures. The world today is simply complex.

Out of this need arise agile roundtables, user groups, and community meetings. Outside of our agile community, there are open source projects and older structures such as professional associations or associations of scientists.

More and more companies are also recognizing the benefits of promoting such open structures and supporting internal and external forums, Scrum cafes, open spaces and a variety of other forms. These are structures in which like-minded people can exchange ideas and learn from each other.

• What forms and ideas are there?
• Where can CoPs be found – publicly and, above all, in companies – and how widespread is the idea?
• What forces, creativity and energy can be released by CoPs?
• What direct and indirect advantages do CoPs bring for participants, companies and others?
• What dangers are there, what can go wrong or have negative consequences?

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