Table of Contents
Forewords xix
Acknowledgments xxv
About the Author xxvii
Preface xxix
1 Why Things Are Not That Simple 1
Causality 2
Complexity 3
Our Linear Minds 5
Reductionism 7
Holism 8
Hierarchical Management 9
Agile Management 11
My Theory of Everything 12
The Book and the Model 13
Summary 14
Reflection and Action 14
2 Agile Software Development 17
Prelude to Agile 17
The Book of Agile 19
The Fundamentals of Agile 22
The Competition of Agile 24
The Obstacle to Agile 28
Line Management versus Project Management 28
Summary 30
Reflection and Action 31
3 Complex Systems Theory 33
Cross-Functional Science 34
General Systems Theory 35
Cybernetics 36
Dynamical Systems Theory 37
Game Theory 37
Evolutionary Theory 38
Chaos Theory 38
The Body of Knowledge of Systems 39
Simplicity: A New Model 41
Revisiting Simplification 44
Nonadaptive versus Adaptive 45
Are We Abusing Science? 46
A New Era: Complexity Thinking 48
Summary 50
Reflection and Action 50
4 The Information-Innovation System 51
Innovation Is the Key to Survival 52
Knowledge 54
Creativity 56
Motivation 58
Diversity 60
Personality 62
Only People Are Qualified for Control 64
From Ideas to Implementation 65
Summary 66
Reflection and Action 67
5 How to Energize People 69
Creative Phases 69
Manage a Creative Environment 72
Creative Techniques 74
Extrinsic Motivation 75
Intrinsic Motivation 78
Demotivation 79
Ten Desires of Team Members 80
What Motivates People: Find the Balance 83
Make Your Rewards Intrinsic 86
Diversity? You Mean Connectivity! 87
Personality Assessments 89
Four Steps toward Team Personality Assessment 90
Do-It-Yourself Team Values 92
Define Your Personal Values 94
The No Door Policy 95
Summary 97
Reflection and Action 97
6 The Basics of Self-Organization 99
Self-Organization within a Context 99
Self-Organization toward Value 101
Self-Organization versus Anarchy 102
Self-Organization versus Emergence 104
Emergence in Teams 106
Self-Organization versus Self-Direction
versus Self-Selection 107
Darkness Principle 108
Conant-Ashby Theorem 110
Distributed Control 111
Empowerment as a Concept 112
Empowerment as a Necessity 113
You Are (Like) a Gardener 115
Summary 117
Reflection and Action 118
7 How to Empower Teams 119
Don’t Create Motivational Debt 119
Wear a Wizard’s Hat 121
Pick a Wizard, Not a Politician 122
Empowerment versus Delegation 123
Reduce Your Fear, Increase Your Status 124
Choose the Right Maturity Level 125
Pick the Right Authority Level 127
Assign Teams or Individuals 131
The Delegation Checklist 132
If You Want Something Done, Practice Your Patience 133
Resist Your Manager’s Resistance 134
Address People’s Ten Intrinsic Desires 136
Gently Massage the Environment 136
Trust 138
Respect 141
Summary 144
Reflection and Action 144
8 Leading and Ruling on Purpose 147
Game of Life 147
Universality Classes 149
False Metaphor 150
You’re Not a Game Designer 151
But…Self-Organization Is Not Enough 152
Manage the System, Not the People 154
Managers or Leaders? 156
Right Distinction: Leadership versus Governance 156
Meaning of Life 158
Purpose of a Team 160
Assigning an Extrinsic Purpose 163
Summary 164
Reflection and Action 165
9 How to Align Constraints 167
Give People a Shared Goal 167
Checklist for Agile Goals 170
Communicate Your Goal 172
Vision versus Mission 174
Examples of Organizational Goals 176
Allow Your Team an Autonomous Goal 177
Compromise on Your Goal and Your Team’s Goal 178
Create a Boundary List of Authority 179
Choose the Proper Management Angle 180
Protect People 181
Protect Shared Resources 183
Constrain Quality 185
Create a Social Contract 186
Summary 188
Reflection and Action 188
10 The Craft of Rulemaking 191
Learning Systems 191
Rules versus Constraints 193
The Agile Blind Spot 196
What’s Important: Craftsmanship 198
Positive Feedback Loops 200
Negative Feedback Loops 201
Discipline * Skill = Competence 204
Diversity of Rules 206
Subsidiarity Principle 208
Risk Perception and False Security 209
Memetics 211
Broken Windows 215
Summary 216
Reflection and Action 217
11 How to Develop Competence 219
Seven Approaches to Competence Development 221
Optimize the Whole: Multiple Levels 223
Optimize the Whole: Multiple Dimensions 224
Tips for Performance Metrics 227
Four Ingredients for Self-Development 229
Managing versus Coaching versus Mentoring 231
Consider Certification 233
Harness Social Pressure 235
Use Adaptable Tools 237
Consider a Supervisor 238
Organize One-on-Ones 241
Organize 360-Degree Meetings 242
Grow Standards 245
Work the System, Not the Rules or the People 246
Summary 247
Reflection and Action 248
12 Communication on Structure 249
Is It a Bug or a Feature? 250
Communication and Feedback 250
Miscommunication Is the Norm 253
Capabilities of Communicators 254
Network Effects 258
Tuning Connectivity 260
Competition and Cooperation 262
Groups and Boundaries 264
Hyper-Productivity or Autocatalysis 266
Pattern-Formation 268
Scale Symmetry: Patterns Big and Small 270
How to Grow: More or Bigger? 272
Summary 274
Reflection and Action 274
13 How to Grow Structure 275
About Environment, Products, Size, and People 275
Consider Specialization First… 278
…And Generalization Second 279
Widen People’s Job Titles 281
Cultivate Informal Leadership 283
Watch Team Boundaries 284
The Optimal Team Size Is 5 (Maybe) 286
Functional Teams versus Cross-Functional Teams 288
Two Design Principles 290
Choose Your Organizational Style 292
Turn Each Team into a Little Value Unit 294
Move Stuff out to Separate Teams 295
Move Stuff up to Separate Layers 299
How Many Managers Does It Take to Change an Organization? 301
Create a Hybrid Organization 302
The Anarchy Is Dead, Long Live the Panarchy 303
Have No Secrets 305
Make Everything Visible 307
Connect People 308
Aim for Adaptability 308
Summary 309
Reflection and Action 310
14 The Landscape of Change 313
The Environment Is Not “Out There” 313
The Fear of Uncertainty 315
Laws of Change 317
Every Product Is a Success…Until It Fails 319
Success and Fitness: It’s All Relative 321
How to Embrace Change 321
Adaptation, Exploration, Anticipation 322
The Red Queen’s Race 325
Can We Measure Complexity? 327
Are Products Getting More Complex? 328
The Shape of Things: Phase Space 331
Attractors and Convergence 332
Stability and Disturbances 334
Fitness Landscapes 335
Shaping the Landscape 337
Directed versus Undirected Adaptation 339
Summary 340
Reflection and Action 341
15 How to Improve Everything 343
Linear versus Nonlinear Improvement 345
Know Where You Are 347
Travel Tips for Wobbly Landscapes 348
Change the Environment, Summon the Mountain 350
Make Change Desirable 353
Make Stagnation Painful 354
Honor Thy Errors 355
The Strategy of Noise 356
The Strategy of Sex 359
The Strategy of Broadcasts 360
Don’t Do Copy-Paste Improvement 362
Some Last Practical Tips for Continuous Change 364
Keep on Rolling 366
Summary 367
Reflection and Action 367
16 All Is Wrong, but Some Is Useful 369
The Six Views of Management 3.0 369
Yes, My Model Is “Wrong” 371
But Other Models Are “Wrong,” Too 373
The Fall and Decline of Agilists 376
The Complexity Pamphlet 377
Summary 380
Reflection and Action 380
Bibliography 381
Index 393
