I like models. Models of the world most of all, because they are so different. Everyone has their own model of the world, built from a lifetime of experiences, values and beliefs. These pigeonholes and simplifications make it a lot easier to get through a complex world. If we tried to understand everything in full depth from scratch every time, we would never get anywhere.
And all these models have one thing in common: within its own model, everyone is right. It all makes sense and can be explained, why this is so and that is not, until two models of the world collide. In the best case, both sides come out of the discussion a little wiser, adjust their models and go happily on their way. In the worst case (and the media and Facebook feeds are full of it right now), there is bashing, ranting and a full-blown shitstorm. You’re stupid, I’m right.
Where Our Views Overlap
Sometimes experiences and models of the world fit together nicely. We agree. Some of us, at least. We settle on what we have in common and turn it into standards and frameworks. Timeboxing, planning and retros go into Scrum. It works. For DevOps we like to draw a sideways figure eight to show the flow. The ISTQB test process gets seven groups of activities. And we classify our employees as sharks or dolphins, or sort them straight into color-coded boxes.
Not everyone likes that either. Some people want to adapt the models and try new things. Wait, are they even allowed to do that? Is that agile, or can we bin it?
No Rules Rules
Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix, describes in his book “No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention” how his company gradually got rid of all its internal rules. Combined with a high density of talent and an intense feedback culture, that is how Netflix hits top form. Read it and you’ll see agility all over the place. Still, my software QA heart gets a little triggered: So, no guidelines at all? Nothing? Pfff … In the end, Reed untangles the knot in my head. If your focus is innovation, that means no rules, leading with context, a huge amount of freedom, personal responsibility, feedback and making mistakes. If your focus is preventing errors, it means processes and rules, leading with control and plenty of guidelines.
Another model I’ll be turning over in my head a few more times.
Everyone Gets Their Own Model of the World
Is Reed Hastings right? For Netflix, maybe. Is agility right for every company and every team? Probably not. Is it okay to do things completely differently? Absolutely.
Instead of thinking we have all the answers and trumpeting them wherever we go, we would sometimes do better to listen more closely and just be quiet for once.
Granting everyone their own model of the world helps me personally, and it helps the companies I work with. It lets me tolerate much more quickly and calmly that the person across from me doesn’t want what I want right now. I often manage that. Far from always, I’m only human.
But instead of swinging the “that’s just how it’s done” consultant’s club, we can go looking for solutions that fit.
Then again, that’s just my model …
