Social engineering with in for kanban

Copyright Lean Kanban [email protected] @lki_dja

Training and Consulting

Social Engineering

David J. AndersonOredev

Malmo, Sweden


Sociology is the innovation in Agile development methods


Tribes Great Boss, Dead Boss -- Ray Immelman


All warm-blooded vertebrate animals form social groups for survival and mutual advantage

Flocks… Herds… packs… tribes.

We are inherently social and cannot get away from it.

The social nature of our species governs our behavior.


A need to belong ranks 3rd

in Mazlov’s hierarchy of needs

after physiological and safety concerns.

We inherently want to belong to social groups.


The need to belong and conform often overrides logic or the values and beliefs

of the individual.

Individuals often behave against their better judgment for fear of

repercussions for their social status…


This leads to group think errors and can result in

riotsethnic cleansingwar crimes

and generally acts out of character for the individual

such ascriminal behaviorvandalismpetty crimedrug taking and substance abuse


Social behavior is governed by our limbic brain


Logical behavior is governed by our frontal cortex


Immelman’s great insight is that we should recognized people in the

workplace behave in an inherently tribal manner


Social group cohesion


Social group cohesion


Highly cohesive social groups can represent attractive homes for the lost,

e.g. cults.

Highly cohesive social groups tend to be brittle and lack resilience and robustness in the face or environmental

change


Story of the Greenland Norse


So if Agile requires a high trust culture, does a high level of social capital

predict Agile adoption?


LiberalConservative

Low

Tru

stHi

gh T

rust Scandinavia

CoastalUSA

UnitedKingdom

India

China

Holland

Belgium

Germany

FranceLatin

America

Rest of USA

Early Agile Adoption

JapanEarly Kanban

Adoption


The key to Agile adoption lies in the social cohesion of society, not its social capital.

Liberal societies are more likely to

adopt it.

Early Agile Adoption


Liberal societies exhibit "anti-fragility"

as they are tolerant of innovation,

and more likely to

adopt, adapt or exapt a concept from outside

when placed under stress.


Kanban's start with what you do now approach

made it appealing to a much wider audience.

Conservative, low trust cultures can still use Kanban by simply

making current policies explicit.

The act of making policies explicit and providing transparency through visualization

automatically moves the culture up and to the right


or the inherent empowerment

provided by making policies explicit.

Early Kanban Adoption

Some Kanban adoptions fail because the culture is resistant to transparency


A truly Agile society is both highly trusting and very liberal


Examples of social engineeringWITH

Kanban


- 1 -WIP limit smaller than team, forcing collaboration or transparent idleness


- 2 -Aggregated team servicing multiple customers, forcing

collaboration in various ways:

Level of trust rises with each style of collaboration.

Agreed capacity allocationDemocratic votingConsensus selection


- 3 -Use of avatars for multi-skilled workers,

specialists and narrowly skilled on specific rows


- 4 - Manage the work,

allow workers to self-organize around it


Examples of social engineeringIN (the design of)

Kanban


Start with what you do now


Kanban should be like water!


Kanban daily meeting is social

System 1 engagement – visual, social, tactile, narrative


Examples of social engineeringFor (the development of)

Kanban (as a social group)


- 1 -No Kanbanistas


- 2 -No roles


- 3 -No Kanban-but or Kanban-butts


- 4 - Long resistance to certifications. No role-based certification


Actions all taken to deliberately position the Kanban community

as a loosely cohesive social group


Not without consequences...


Developing and maintaining a loosely cohesive social group

is more expensive in time, energy and money,

than developing a highly cohesive group.

So Why Do it?...


Advantage #1: Develops New Leaders


Advantage #2: Continual Innovation


Advantage #3: Thoughtfulness


Rejections & Resignations


Disadvantages #1: People like, want and need highly cohesive social groups


Disadvantage #2: Retards the Training Market


Disadvantage #3: Avoiding Dogma is Costly


Conclusions


We are inherently social!

Copyright Lean Kanban Inc. [email protected] @lki_dja

Enterprise Services Planning6 Planning Activities


Social Engineering with/in/for Kanban









Thank you!


About

David Anderson is an innovator in management of 21st Century businesses that employ creative people who “think for a living” . He leads a training, consulting, publishing and event planning business dedicated to developing, promoting and implementing new management thinking & methods…He has 30+ years experience in the high technology industry starting with computer games in the early 1980’s. He has led software organizations delivering superior productivity and quality using innovative methods at large companies such as Sprint and Motorola.David defined Enterprise Services Planning and originated Kanban Method an adaptive approach to improved service delivery. His latest book, published in June 2012, is, Lessons in Agile Management – On the Road to Kanban.David is Chairman & CEO of Lean Kanban Inc., a business operating globally, dedicated to providing quality training & events to bring Kanban and Enterprise Services Planning to businesses who employ those who must “think for a living.”


Leadership & Management

Social engineering with in for kanban