One of the key ways in which organizations can develop an ingrained learn-ing culture is through embeddlearn-ing the practice of reflective thinklearn-ing and retrospectives. Unlike critical thinking, which is a way of utilizing different techniques of reasoning and insight in order to increase the probability of a desired outcome or goal, reflective thinking focuses on the analysis of past experiences to draw learning that might be applied in the future.
Two influential thinkers on organizational learning, Donald Schön and Chris Argyris, created a useful way of thinking about the application of what Schön called ‘reflective practice’, the ability of organizations to not only incorporate as broad a perspective as possible from the experience of individuals and the company itself, but to continually improve through a feedback loop of experience, learning and practice. They considered three key elements:
1 Governing variables: the dimensions that people are trying to keep within acceptable or accepted limits.
2 Action strategies: the plans and activities used to keep governing values within the acceptable range.
3 Consequences: the intended or unintended results of an action.
Learning, they said, involves identifying and correcting errors but when something goes wrong people initially look for an alternative strategy that will work within the existing governing variables in what they called ‘single-loop learning’. Single-‘single-loop learning is an error and correction process that enables the organization to continue current policies in order to achieve its objectives. So organizations operationalize responses to changing market conditions. ‘Double-loop learning’ on the other hand, involves questioning the governing variables themselves:
Single-loop learning is like a thermostat that learns when it is too hot or too cold and turns the heat on or off… Double-loop learning occurs when error is detected and corrected in ways that involve the modification of an organization’s underlying norms, policies and objectives.17
Good reflective practice in the agile business should not only focus on single-loop error and correction, but more fundamental consideration of new and improved ways of working, and challenging and changing estab-lished norms.
Reflection is built in to agile methodologies (the last Agile Manifesto principle is: ‘At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly’) through the prac-tice of retrospectives. These are used as a simple way to gather the team, typically at the end of a sprint, and hold a (often facilitated) reflection on their work and way of operating and how it might be improved in the next sprint. Actions are captured, made visible and then revisited.
One of the simplest (and therefore best) frameworks for reflection actu-ally originated from the US military. The so-called ‘after action review’18 would be used in de-briefs as a way of improving performance, and features four simple questions that can be answered after an action of some kind:
1 What did we expect to happen? Knowing that you have to answer this question afterwards means that you go in with a greater clarity of objec-tive and desired outcome.
2 What actually happened? A blameless analysis, that identifies key events, actions and influences, and creates a consensus.
3 Why was or wasn’t there a difference? What were the differences (if any) between desired and actual outcomes, and why did this difference occur?
4 What can you do next time to improve or ensure these results? What (if anything) are you going to do different next time? What should you do more of/the same/less of? What needs fixing? What worked and is repeat-able or scalrepeat-able? The idea is that at least half of the time of the review should be spent answering this question.
Most businesses are pretty bad at taking time out to reflect and learn. There is always pressure to move straight on to the next target, the next priority, the next project. Yet when it is embedded into cultural, behavioural and process norms it is potentially one of the most valuable ways to develop a true learning organization.
Stories from the frontline
John Coleman, agility transformation consultant, coach and trainer:
Using agile processes, and bringing people on journey
Even if a client has bought into the significance of more agile working, it’s still important to ask ‘why agility?’. It’s critical that the organization understands what it will gain from being more agile, and yet there will often
be different answers to this question, especially from different levels of the business. Senior support for the adoption of new working methods, values and behaviours is key, and it’s important to address the ‘what’s in it for me?’
question, so that everyone understands the value.
Benefit will be derived from faster delivery, being more customer focused and innovative, but this needs to be brought to life at a personal, team and organizational level. People need to feel like they co-designed the agility transformation that is to come, since this will help get them through the times when change feels particularly difficult. And there will be difficult times, since most transformation efforts require a number of ‘J-curves’19 to get there. The initial stages of change may well create a period of disruption that can have a short-term adverse impact on performance, before the tangible benefits start to show and long-term gains become apparent. So people need to be aware of where they are on the J-curve, and the fact that there may well be multiple J-curves along the journey.
Once the goal of the first J-curve (no longer than 12 months) is agreed, it’s important to then work out the best options to achieve the positive expected outcome at the end of the first curve, and to position yourself as best you can for the second curve. Tools such as the DICE® framework from the Boston Consulting Group20 are useful in being able to better predict outcomes since it uses four key elements to assess likely results:
the duration of the project (longer projects that are reviewed more frequently are often more likely to succeed than shorter ones that are subject to a poor review process); the integrity of the team (quality, skills, capability and configuration); the commitment to change (visible top-down support, engagement at different levels); and the effort of stakeholders (degree of additional demands, which should be as minimal as possible).
The key is then to select a toolbox of methods that best suit the current context, to set the cadence and synchronization pattern that enable regular delivery of value and the mapping of the interventions needed to achieve the medium-term outcomes, to keep your sights on generating early benefit and managing risk, and also ‘Black Swan Farming’21 (the potential to discover features in hindsight that are hundreds or thousands of times more valuable than other features). There are probably several deal breakers, including the acceptance of a half-hearted implementation (‘WaterScrumFall’ or ‘WAgile’ for example), a lack of appetite for
continuous integration and automated testing, and a lack of appetite for suitable finance support and processes (more regular forecasting/
notes
1 IBM.com (2016) IBM Design Thinking, IBM Design, [Online] http://www.ibm.
com/design/thinking/ [accessed 24 October 2016]
2 ideou.com (2016) Design Thinking, IDEO U, [Online] http://www.ideou.com/
pages/design-thinking [accessed 24 October 2016]
3 ideou.com (2016) Design Thinking, IDEO U, [Online] http://www.ideou.com/
pages/design-thinking [accessed 24 October 2016]
4 Herbert A Simon (26 September 1996) The Sciences of the Artificial Third, MIT Press, ASIN B002U60C7S
5 AgileManifesto.com (2001) Manifesto for Agile Software Development, [Online] http://agilemanifesto.org/ [accessed 24 October 2016]
6 Eric Reis (2016) The Lean Startup, The Lean Startup, [Online] http://
theleanstartup.com/ [accessed 24 October 2016]
7 Eric Reis (6 October 2011) The Lean Startup: How constant innovation creates radically successful businesses, Portfolio Penguin, ISBN-10 670921602, ISBN-13 978-0670921607
8 Ed Catmull (8 April 2014) Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration, Transworld Digital, ASIN B00GUOEMA4 9 Marc Andreessen (22 January 2015) Failure – Success is the new failure,
Andreesen Horowitz, [Online] http://a16z.com/2015/01/22/failure/ [accessed 24 October 2016]
budgeting, or ‘Lean Finance’) since this can inhibit long-term gain and the ability to create stable, high performing teams. The main point is to use the right method(s)/frameworks for the right context and to get into a transformation rhythm to get regular wins, pivoting as you discover things that didn’t work so well in practice in that context.
And keep on going! Keep it fresh by changing the transformation team by asking more key influencers for help as you go, and as energy dwindles from one focus area and increases in the next one. Be aware of the politics, keep your forecasts on track (re-forecasting monthly at a minimum), use positive peer pressure through informal show and tells, tell stories, spread the word. Above all, leave a legacy so that the transformation continues.
10 Jim Collins and Morten T Hansen (13 October 2011) Great by Choice:
Uncertainty, chaos and luck – why some thrive despite them all, Random House Business, ISBN-10 1847940889 ISBN-13 978-1847940889 11 Facebook Engineering (8 August 2012) Building and Testing at Facebook,
Facebook Engineering, [Online] https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-engineering/building-and-testing-at-facebook/10151004157328920/ [accessed 24 October 2016]
12 Moz (2016) Google Algorithm Change History, Moz, [Online] https://moz.
com/google-algorithm-change [accessed 24 October 2016]
13 Eugene Kim (5 April 5 2016) Jeff Bezos: ‘We are the best place in the world to fail’, Business Insider UK, [Online] http://uk.businessinsider.com/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-best-place-in-the-world-to-fail-2016-4 [accessed 24 October 2016]
14 Ray Kurzweil (21 March 2016) We need to forget things to make space to learn new things, scientists discover, [Online] http://www.kurzweilai.net/
we-need-to-forget-things-to-make-space-to-learn-new-things-scientists-discover [accessed 24 October 2016]
15 Dan Millman (5 May 2010) Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A book that changes lives, Peaceful Warrior, ePublishing B003LBRISM
16 Carol Dweck (2 February 2012) Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential, Robinson, ISBN-10 1780332009 ISBN-13 978-1780332000
17 Smith, M K (2001, 2013) Chris Argyris: theories of action, double-loop learning and organizational learning, infed.org The encyclopedia of informal education, [Online] http://infed.org/mobi/chris-argyris-theories-of-action-double-loop-learning-and-organizational-learning/ [accessed 25 October 2016]
18 Douglas Brown (2 October 2012) After Action Review: The most eye-opening business success tool, Post University Insights, [Online] http://blog.post.
edu/2012/10/after-action-review-most-eye-opening-business-success-tool.html [accessed 25 October 2016]
19 Clapham, J (2014) David Viney, who did some of the original research on the effect of perceived change, to use his J-Curve in Steve Fullmer’s courseware and related delivery, [Online] https://johnclapham.wordpress.com/tag/viney/
[accessed 20 October 2016]
20 Dice: A tool for executional certainty, [Online] http://dice.bcg.com/index.
html#intro [accessed 19 October 2016]
21 Arnold, J and Yüce, Ö (no date) Black Swan Farming, [Online] http://
blackswanfarming.com/cost-of-delay/ [accessed 19 October 2016]